Page 92 of The Saviors: Part One
“Fuck,” Axel scrubs his hand down his face. “I forgot how nosey you are.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I wave that away. “Start talking.” I lead him to the table, and Axel drops into his chair.
“I have no idea how to explain this without it coming out bad, so I’ll just say it. I fucked Nolan.”
“I’m… I… You’re… What?” I stutter. I have no damn idea what to say.
“Did you just have a stroke?” Cole asks with a laugh.
“Did you not hear what he just said?!”
“Yes, I did.” Cole looks at Axel. “This isn’t some kind of experiment, is it? Because I don’t think Nolan is the right one for that.”
Axel looks over at Nolan, where he’s standing with Kai and Chelsea. His face softens so much that I barely recognize him. “He’s not just an experiment.”
“I’m so happily confused right now,” I say. “I like that look on you, man.”
Axel’s brows furrow. “What look?”
“Where it doesn’t look like you have something permanently shoved up your ass,” Cole answers. “Did he do that to you?”
Axel laughs. “He called me on my bullshit. He told me I was stupid for going alone.”
“You were,” I agree. “What the fuck, man? We don’t do that shit.”
“I know,” Axel says quietly. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sean. For everything. For not trusting you, for what I said about Chelsea, and for not making it better sooner.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say something before it got bad,” I admit. “A lot could have been avoided if we would have been honest.”
“Same for me,” Cole says. “Six years is a long time to let something build.”
Axel nods and looks at Chelsea sadly. I follow his line of sight, and she’s laughing with Nolan. Kai is shaking his head with a smile. “It is.” Axel takes a deep breath. “I fucked up that night. We should never have kept that from her, and we should have never left her here. She was ours to protect, and we failed. Big time.”
“You plan on making it up to her?” I ask.
“As long as she’ll let me,” Axel answers. “I wouldn't fault her if she told me to fuck off.”
“We talked earlier,” Cole says. “The same girl is in there, just stronger.”
We launch into what happened at the fair and what Cole, Axel, and Nolan found at the warehouse. I love all the time I’ve spent with Chelsea, and I wouldn’t change it, but I missed this. It’s all I’ve known for five years, and the time sitting on the sidelines has been hard. I just don’t know how Chelsea will fit into all of this. All I know is I want her there. And now that she seems to be willing to listen to Cole and Axel, I think she has a perfect place with this fucked up family.
If that’s where she wants to be.
* * *
We’reall sitting around the table after eating, and it feels right. Chelsea fits in perfectly with all of us, and it’s an amazing thing to watch.
“You cleaned this place up nice,” Axel says.
She shrugs. “It was creepy as hell, I know, but I saw what was buried under all that dirt. I just brought it to life.”
“Remember the time Axel and I dared you to come in here?” Cole says with a laugh.
“I had nightmares for weeks.” She shudders. “This place really had an off the charts creep factor.”
“You know it was us making all the scuffing sounds, right?” he asks.
“What?” she says in a dangerously low tone. “You swore to me that it wasn’t you guys.”
