Page 70 of Decked, Wrecked and Pucked
“You okay, big guy?” I nod, and he leans in, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “I love you, and if you need us, you call.”
He hands me the key to the cabin, and he and Jasper walk away, leaving me alone with Addison, who suddenly looks so vulnerable, it punches the air from my lungs. It makes me feel like a bastard for just watching her, but I wait her out. If she needs me to hold her, I’ll know.
“Are you okay, princess?” She nods, but her eyes are distant. “I’m sorry.”
Her brow furrows. “For what?”
“For what you’ve lost and the future I know you wanted.”
Because I remember every piece of that dream and the way her eyes would light up when she talked about a boy and a girl with her golden hair and my smile. She used to say it was her favorite part of me because it meant I was happy, and she wanted a life built on that.
She swallows hard. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t change it.”
“It matters, Addison,” I tell her, stepping closer. Her eyes—those navy eyes I used to get lost in—finally meet mine, and they’re empty in the worst way. She looks like she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to feel, only that she’s feeling too much all at once. “You don’t have to pretend this doesn’t hurt. You’ve lost something, and you’re allowed to be fucking angry at the world for it.”
“Other people have suffered worse.”
“That doesn’t make your pain any less real.” I rake a hand through my hair, chest burning, fighting to reach her. “You know I’ve seen some shit. I’ve lived through hell and convinced myself I didn’t have the right to fall apart because someone else always had it harder. But Jasper and Zeke… they tore that bullshit right out of me. They made me feel it, every fucking bit of it. And they taught me it’s okay to let it hurt sometimes.”
She nods, but her hands won’t stop fidgeting, twisting together like she’s trying to wring the nerves out of her skin.
“Addie,” I whisper, trying to pull her back to me. “Talk to me.”
She just shakes her head, chewing her lip raw, and when I step toward her, she flinches back.
Actually fucking flinches.
“Addie?”
My eyes narrow because now she won’t let me near her, and for the first time, I have no fucking clue why.
“Can I please have the key? I need… I just need space… I can’t breathe in here.”
I brush past her, jerking my chin toward the door. “Then let’s go.”
“You don’t need to come with me.”
“Like hell I don’t. You really think I’m letting you walk out there alone with Mikey still slinking around with his dick in his hand? Not fucking happening.”
“Roman!” she snaps, but I don’t budge.
I step up to her, my jaw clenched so hard it aches. “Addie. Move.”
She glares at me but doesn’t argue this time. She shoves past, heels stabbing into the snow as she steps outside.
The walk is quiet, but not the kind of quiet that soothes. It’s the kind that vibrates with everything unsaid. Every step is thick with tension, with questions that haven’t been asked and answers we’re too scared to say out loud.
We’re ticking.
We’re on the edge of something explosive, and when it hits, we’ll either burn each other to the ground or burn together, holding on like we don’t know how to let go.
Maybe I’m too late.
I unlock the door and step aside to let her pass. She doesn’t even glance at me. She storms straight for the guest room—a hell of a statement, considering she’s been in our bed for the past few nights.
“You should go back to Jasper and Zeke,” she says, kicking off her heels. They go flying across the room, slamming against the wall with a crack that mirrors the one splitting down the middle of us.
She plants her hands on her hips and starts pacing like she’s about to tear a hole in the floor. I shrug off my jacket, letting it drop over the back of a chair. I unbutton my cuffs and start rolling up my sleeves, watching her the whole time.
