Chapter Thirty
Madden
“Madden?”
“Yeah?” Her eyes were closed, her cheek on his chest listening to the steady beat of his heart. They’d been lying together, silent and still for about thirty minutes now.
“Tell me what happened to you. Tell me why you don’t want forever with me.”
She hated the sadness in his voice, but she did owe him an explanation. He’d been patient, and he hadn’t pried. It was time, though. Their connection was undeniable, her feelings for him only growing stronger every time they came together. Literally and figuratively.
She took a deep breath and then began. “I grew up in a really happy household. My dad was an attorney and my mom stayed at home. She had dinner on the table every night at six-thirty sharp. The house was always spotless, the errands always run, laundry done daily. Without fail. She came on every field trip, was at every after-school event. She was like a superhero to me. I wanted to be her when I grew up. I wanted kids. I wanted a husband, and I wanted to take care of them.”
He brushed the hair back from her face, kissing her forehead. “What changed?”
“One day, when I was fourteen, I stayed home from school with a cold. My mom was out running errands. Picking up groceries, my dad’s dry cleaning, her usual stuff.” She started drawing circles on his stomach, distracting herself. “I was feeling better and I was bored, so I went on a walk. We lived in a large old Victorian close to the town square and this little ice cream shop was close enough for me to get there on foot.” She wouldn’t cry. She refused. “I passed by an alley and I saw my dad’s car. He was pulled all the way in. I don’t even know why I looked back there.” She closed her eyes, remembering the green dumpster that was partially blocking his vehicle. “Anyway, I saw him in the backseat, kissing a woman that definitely wasn’t my mother. I threw up on the sidewalk and ran all the way home in tears.”
“I’m so sorry. That must have been awful.” He kissed her head again, wrapping his arms around her tighter.
“That wasn’t the worst part.” If only it had been. “It took me weeks to work up the courage to tell my mom what I saw. And when I did? She pretty much laughed in my face. She told me she knew, she’d always known. She just didn’t care. My dad was a good provider, a good father. She said that was just the way things went, and then she told me to keep my mouth shut about what I’d seen.”
“Are you serious?” Linc drew away so he could see her face.
She nodded. “Yep.” She sent him a small smile. “I was so disgusted with both of them, I could barely look at them over the dinner table. Every time my dad was late for supper, I’d get this horrible feeling in my stomach. Every time my mom went out of her way to do something special for him, I cringed.”
“No wonder happily ever after sounds like a shit deal to you.”
“I went from wanting to be like her to never wanting to be like her. I refused to spend my life loving a man, taking care of a man, who would only fuck me over in the end.” She propped her head on her hand. “I decided at the age of fourteen that I would take a different path. I wanted adventure and freedom. I was never going to fall in love. Why fall for something that doesn’t exist?”
“We aren’t all that different, Madden.” Linc mirrored her posture, both of them facing each other head on. “I came from a happy home, and it’s still a happy home. My parents are so sweet together they’ll give you a toothache. But I grew up wanting something different, wanting something more.” He reached up and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “My reasons may have stemmed from somewhere else, but we both wanted the same thing out of our lives.” He smiled. “The universe knew what it was doing, baby.”
She scoffed. “How do you figure?”
He cupped her cheek in his hand, his grin growing even bigger. “I’ll be your biggest adventure, and you can be mine.”
Yep. She was a goner. When cheese-ball lines started to make tears swell in your eyes? Your life was officially no longer your own. “Linc.”
“I’ll never hurt you, Madden. I’ll never betray you. I’ll never leave you. I’ll never—”
“That’s not how love works. You don’t set out wanting to hurt each other but… You can’t promise something like that. No one can.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby.” His eyes lit up with an excitement she didn’t understand. “I’m not just any guy. I’m a shifter. Don’t you get it? I can’t hurt you. My heart, my brain, my soul, my whatever, it won’t allow me to harm you, ever, in any way. You are mine. You are made for me. There is no one else that will ever make me feel the way you make me feel. You are my forever.”
She knew all about shifter bonding, but hearing those words out of Linc’s mouth was something entirely different. She believed them. For the first time, she actually believed them. There was a calmness that settled in her bones. Linc was her person. Linc was who she’d spend the rest of her life loving. But did forever have to start today? “Can we still wait? Just a little bit longer?”
He bit his lips together, nodding, but not answering her out loud.
“Does that make you mad?” Had she upset him? She wasn’t trying to. There was a lot going on in his pack right now. And only moments ago she had realized that Linc was what she wanted for the rest of her life. She needed time for the crazy to die down. She could only handle so much at once.
He shook his head. “No, not at all.” He placed a sweet kiss on her lips. “Let’s get through tonight at Dom and Corey’s house, and then we’ll go from there. Okay?”
She felt like there was something he wasn’t telling her. Something he wasn’t saying. But she wouldn’t push. They didn’t have time anyway. There was some mob lackey running around campus beating the shit out of kids.
That took priority.