Page 108 of Feverburn

She tilted her head in consideration.“True.”

“Speaking of men and the troubles that go along with them,”I grabbed her hand and led her back to the bathrooms, where the sun filtered through the back door, lighting up the hallway.“Are you ready to take him down?”I asked, gesturing to Tyler’s photo.

It was the size of a poster, now surrounded by a wall of other douchey selfies of other cheaters. Kaylee let out a deep sigh.“Yeah, I guess we better. I rarely even think of him. We can’t keep playing the scorned card if we’re both healed and happily inlove.”

“But we can still hold space for other women.”I dodged into the office, returning with a frame.“I was thinking we could go back to basics.”

Kaylee flipped over the frame.“Ohmagawsh, Rosie! I’m gonna start ugly crying!”

The framed picture was of a photograph Azalea snapped for us this summer. We were on the dock at Kaylee’s cabin, standing hip to hip, our arms around each other’s waist as we shared a laugh. We hung it on the blank wall across from the shrine and tore down Tyler, clearing more room for other cheaters.

We burned the Tyler poster in the back parking lot in a fire-safe container we had for other ceremonies. In the dusky light, the flames eating at the photo's edges signaled the end of an era. Too many mixed emotions created a knot in my throat, and Kaylee was unusually quiet.

Looking up from the ashes, I tried to swallow the knot. “I’m glad we did this.”

She glanced up at the crescent moon.“I’m glad, too.”

We met the guys across the street for a date. Kaylee and I walked in a row between them, their arms around us. The men laughed about something, throwing their heads back in boyish laughter. I looked to my left, only to see Viviane in the window of her bookstore. Amischievoussmile carved her face, deepening when she met my gaze. I gave her a subtle nod that she returned while holding up her mug as if in a silent toast before turning away from the window.

Sitting in the booth at Yeti’s, several people turned their heads to see all four of us together. Smiles and murmurs flitted amongst the townies, and it was back to normal. Our firstdoubledate went off without a hitch. Kaylee and Harley were funny, and the men reminiscing was entertaining. More than anything, I liked my mountain man’s arm around me. And how his eyes swept over my face before crinkling with a knowing smile.

This was how life was supposed to be. This was what I wanted all along.

Chapter Forty-Four

Rosie recovered by late winter and was feeling great. Her tattooing business was steadily gaining traction, and she finally agreed to let me put an old-fashioned wooden sign on the corner of the building with an arrow to the back indicating herentrance. I shut my office door more often, and with additional help at the store, I wasn’t always there. My dad was right. It was a two-person job. With the assistance, I increased my profits and was less stressed, even though I didn’t want to admit it.

Rosie and I married the following April, a couple of weeks before Kaylee and Harley did in May. They were having a small ceremony, but more people were flying in from out of town, whereas ours was intimate, with only the essential people in a clearing of the woods by our cabin.

Rosie was abreathtakingbride. She wore astunningblack dress that looked straight out of some faerie tale with a flower crown of real black roses. With her long fiery hair, it wasbreathtakingandunique. I wore all black, choosing a vest instead of a suit jacket. Rosie said I looked like a lumbersnack, whatever that meant.

Her mom walked her down the aisle. Kiszka was our ring bearer, and Viv officiated the handfasting. Harley and Bear were my groomsmen. Kaylee and Frankie were bridesmaids. My mom blubbered the whole time. We took the small party back to our cabin, where we had sushi catered. Our first dance was to“You’re The One”by Greta Van Fleet. We swayed together in drunken happiness, unable to stop staring at each other.

I surprised her with a trip to Hawaii for our honeymoon. She ugly cried, as Kaylee would say. On the first night in Maui, while watching the sunset together on the beach, she looked up at me and asked,‘Do you want to go make a baby now?’

All I could do was chuckle and carry her back to our bed. I loved how she smiled while straddling me as I pushed her white sundress off her. How she giggled when I untied her bikini with my teeth. And when my cock slipped into her heat, her eyes fluttered before she braced herself to roll against me.

The summer sprawled out in a hazy daze, and even though she wasn’t visibly showing, I could tell her soft little body grew with our child. We spent nights swinging in the hammock together, watching the sunset. Kiszka wasextraprotective of her, already practicing his howling lullabies. Finally, I had a little pack and family to call my own.

Everything we went through was worth it.

Our rocky start and the early days of flirting insecret.

The time apart, pretending we were enemies.

The moonlitconfessionsin our lake, then the chase through thewildforest on Litha.

Thecurseand the feverburn.

Everything brought me to her. She heard me when no one else was trying to listen. She fought for me when I didn’t even know I needed help. She was my little firecracker. My favorite bog witch. And most importantly, my biggest blessing.

Chapter Forty-Five

I watched the sunset on the lake, remembering how I had collapsed at work a year ago with no one knowing how much I loved Carson. Now, I was happily married and pregnant. Most of all, I was thriving. I found my family, and my creativity was blossoming slowly and earnestly. I feltstrong like I had a purpose. I was in charge of my life and working on letting people help me to make it easier. And I created a safe space for other women.

I had learned so much here in Pine Bluff. I first moved here for a fresh start, to find thecourageto forge my path after somuch was taken from me. I am proud that even in my darkest days, I had enough fight in me to want more for myself. And now that I have found it, I am so glad I fought for it.

Carson fought for me, too. He saw me in a way no one else did. Day by day, our bond grew deeper and more intimate. Even now, I felt him before I heard him. I leaned against my favorite pine tree on our property. The waves from the lake were steady, and I could catch his footsteps between each lap. Saying nothing, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands on my tiny bump. His beard bristled my temple as he planted akiss.

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