Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
On the anniversary of her mom’s death.
When she’d gotten her first period.
When her first boyfriend broke up with her. Loki had broken his nose for making her cry.
Good times. But now it felt like the scales were uneven.
He eyed Remy. Wondering if he was judging him.
Would he use this against Loki?
“Loki? Are you all right?” Isa asked.
“Yeah, Tink. I’m good now. Thanks.” He gave her a soft smile, running his finger down her cheek.
When he glanced over at Remy, the other man gave him a nod of . . . respect?
Loki didn’t get it. Remy wasn’t raging. He wasn’t threatening to call the cops, something a normal person would be doing.
But Remy didn’t seem that upset. Which made Loki feel even worse for, you know, trying to strangle him.
Maybe you should try apologizing, asshole.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “For, um, strangling you.”
Isa leaned into him.
Thank fuck I didn’t hurt her.
Exhaustion filled him. Fuck, he hated the aftermath of a flashback almost as much as the flashback itself.
“It’s all right,” Remy said. “Flashback?”
“Yeah.” He also fucking hated talking about flashbacks.
“You didn’t fight back,” Isa said quietly.
Yeah, that was true. Loki glanced down to find her watching Remy curiously.
“Met a lot of people during my years of travel,” Remy said. “Many of them saw combat. I figured fighting back would make it worse.”
Yeah, most likely.
But what if Isa hadn’t come along?
“I might have strangled you to death,” he said.
“I figured you’d stop before it got that far,” Remy replied.
“That seems a bit reckless,” Isa said. She wriggled a finger at Remy as though she was telling him off. It was cute as hell. “Don’t do that again.”
Remy crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at Isa with a smile. “Oh yeah, Little Miss? And what would you expect me to do next time?”
“There won’t be a next time,” Loki said, feeling sick. Christ, he hoped not.
Remy grimaced. “Fuck, sorry, man. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Isa inserted herself under his arm as though she was trying to help prop up his weight.
Yeah, like that was going to happen. Even if he was in pain and half-dead, there was no way he would lean his weight on her. He’d squish the pipsqueak.
“Next time, you should tickle him.”
Both of them stared down at Isa after she announced that.
“What?” Remy asked.
“Tickle him. He’s super ticklish.” She moved her fingers against Loki’s side.
He was not going to start laughing. He was not. But he couldn’t help it, he jumped away from her, holding his arms against his sides, knowing she was going to go for his armpits next.
“Don’t you even think about it,” Loki warned. “Tink, no! It’s a hard no!”
She grinned wildly and lunged for him. But Remy caught her around the waist, holding her against him.
It took all of his control not to snatch her back.
Just when he thought he might be able to tolerate the dude . . .
“Stop torturing Loki,” Remy ordered.
She pouted. “Why? It’s so much fun. And he loves it, really.”
“You want me to tickle you back?” Loki challenged.
“What? No! Rude.”
Remy set her down, away from him. “We need to talk to you, Isa.”
And then it all came back to him. The reason why he’d been storming off down the corridor when Remy had grabbed him, sending him into a flashback.
“Isa,” Loki growled.
Her eyes widened, recognizing his tone.
She took a step back. Oh no, she wasn’t going anywhere. Although he didn’t really feel like having this conversation here. Stepping forward, he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder.
“Loki! What are you doing? Set me down! Set me down right now!”
“No! You’re in trouble. You’ve been keeping things from me.” A surge of adrenaline chased away his fatigue and he started walking toward the main area of the bar.
“Loki! Put me down!”
She started wriggling and he had to adjust his hold to make sure that he kept hold of her while ensuring she didn’t flash everyone in the bar.
He reached the door before he realized that they were on their own. Turning, he glanced back at where Remy watched them with a too-knowing gaze and a hint of . . . sadness.
Fuck. Now he was feeling sorry for the guy.
Loki had never once seen him at the Wishing Well with friends. Not even with work colleagues from the ranch. The people who lived at Sanctuary were all good people. So he was certain that they would have tried to include Remy in everything.
However, he had the feeling that Remy was used to being alone. From what Easton had dug up, he’d never been married and had never stayed in one place for longer than eighteen months.
Most of the time, Loki hated being alone. Sure, sometimes he went out into the wilderness alone to help quiet his mind.
But he needed his friends. Needed his girl.