Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“You do?” I squawked.
He nodded. “He deserves the best. You know we think you’re the best.”
Derek grunted. “Trace is a hundred and fifty years old, Jude.”
“I’m forty-six, asshole,” I muttered, rubbing my face with both hands now that I knew Jude wouldn’t let Derek murder me.
“Same difference.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you think I know Wolfe deserves better? Deserves someone his own age? God, why do you think I fought this as hard as I did? But Wolfe is… he’s everything. He understands me. He makes me laugh. He softens all my hard edges and lights up all the dark places inside me. I’d burn the world to keep him safe, except I know his sweet heart would hate that, so I couldn’t. And I want to make sure that he has every fucking thing his heart desires, but one of those things is—” My voice cracked. “One of those things is me. So I can’t make myself stay away from him. I won’t. And I really hope you can come to terms with it.”
Derek’s eyes pinned me to my seat. “This why you left San Francisco and went to Montana six years ago? God knows we’d been offering you funding to start SERA for years.”
Jude’s mouth opened in surprise as I nodded.
“I found out Wolfe had feelings for me. I thought it was a crush. I thought he’d get over it. But I started thinking about him… differently.” I wasn’t about to say sexually, but they could tell that’s what I meant. “I didn’t want to lead him on, so I decided it would be easier for both of us if I was far away.”
Jude asked, “Then what happened? Does this have something to do with why Wolfe took off?”
Derek’s expression darkened, but I ignored it for now. I knew Derek was fiercely protective of his family, and I’d always respected that.
I cleared my throat. “It wasn’t the only reason, but partly, yes.” I was walking a fine line, trying to protect Wolfe’s privacy but also explain. “We had a disagreement.” I pulled a face. “I was an ass, to be honest. Still trying to fight what I was feeling. I went into the backcountry on back-to-back sessions with SERA, so I didn’t know how upset he was. I didn’t know he was gone until you called me—”
“Shoulda called someone else,” Derek muttered.
Jude nudged his shoulder. “Bullshit. You know there’s no one better at finding Wolfe than Trace because they understand each other. Now, shut up and let him finish.”
“I promise I never had a single inappropriate thought about him until six years ago,” I said quickly. Because I needed them not to think the worst of me.
Jude rolled his eyes. “Of course not. Jesus, Trace.”
Derek gave a slight nod of agreement before saying, “Continue.”
“When I found him in Colorado, we talked. And this time, I actually listened. I realized that staying away from him wasn’t protecting him; it was just hurting both of us. He’s it for me, Derek. And for a while now, I’ve been it for him, too. Now that we’ve both acknowledged it, we can’t go back to the way things were. I’m sorry.”
“If he’s it for you, then where the fuck is he?” Derek made a comical effort to look around us in the close cabin of the private jet.
Jude didn’t bother smacking him again, just let go of his hand and crossed his arms.
“He said to meet him at home, so I thought San Francisco. But now…” I smiled slightly as the conversation from my hike with Wolfe came back to me. His favorite place on Earth. The place he could breathe, the place that had always felt like home to him, wasn’t California. “He’s in Legacy.”
“You’re sure?” Jude asked.
Derek’s eyes bugged out. “If he’s missing again, Trace—”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling the loosening of my muscles as my body relaxed into the seat. “He’s not missing. He’s exactly where he wants to be.”
The two of them stared at me for a few moments before turning to look at each other and exchanging some of that mysterious couple-speak that happened without actual words being spoken.
I imagined that would be me and Wolfe, and I couldn’t fucking wait.
This time, when Derek spoke, his voice was soft, and I could hear the vulnerability in it. “Is he happy?”
I thought back to the note he’d left. The way he’d claimed me fully, while leaving to manage his business unapologetically.
“I think he’s going to be.” I glanced out the window to the vast sea of white clouds before looking back at both of them. “And I plan to make sure of it.”
The edge of Derek’s mouth turned up. “Well. I guess that’s that, then.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
Jude’s face broke out in a knowing grin, his eyes still on me. “He means, we’re very, very happy our son chose you, Trace. Also, hurt him and die.”