Page 24 of Forced Mate Bride
“I won’t apologize for doing what I think was best or for trying to protect you,” he said. “But I probably could have gone about it a different way. I just couldn’t think of a better way to protect you and keep you in the pack.”
“I know.” It wasn’t acceptance or forgiveness, just an acknowledgment.
“I’m sorry for the fight at the library,” he said.
Nikki’s head whipped back around, and she stared at him almost in disbelief, as if she’d never had someone apologize to her before.
“I shouldn’t have acted that way,” he continued. “I’m just trying to protect you. I don’t want you falling back into Lucas’s hands, or anyone else’s.”
“You were isolating me, though,” she pointed out.
She wasn’t going to give him a pass. He liked that about her. He liked that she held him accountable. He liked that she thought he could be better.
“I was,” he admitted. “And I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to isolate you. I’ve seen what that can do to someone, and I don’t want to ever be responsible for that.”
She stared up at him, her expression politely curious. He could sense that she wanted to know what he was referring to, but wouldn’t pry. She’d let him decide if he was ready to tell. Again, another thing he liked about her.
Still, it took him some time to figure out how to form the words, how to say exactly what was on his mind. He wanted her to know about him, but that wasn’t a time in his life that he liked to think about, let alone talk about.
Birdsong and the rush of wind through leaves interrupted the silence. Nikki tore her gaze away from him to stare out at the magnificent view again, the blue sky over the sea of orange and yellow and red. Her fingers tapped against the side of her glass.
“My father wasn’t exactly a great man,” he finally growled after a long minute, and Nikki turned back to him. “That’s putting it mildly, to be honest. He was an asshole. He treated my mother like shit and tried to keep her away from family and friends. Same with my sister. I grew up seeing him do it, and I hated it. He was supposed to care about them and protect them, not make their lives miserable.”
He let out a deep breath, fully aware that Nikki was staring at him, watching him. His skin prickled.
“Anyway, I made a promise never to be like him.” He laughed humorlessly. “But I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I guess I picked up some of his habits without realizing it. Even if I’m doing it because I think it’s the right thing to do, I’m still doing what he did.”
He twisted so he was facing her. Her features were softer, but he could see the conflict in her eyes, the war of understanding and still being frustrated at the circumstances. He wanted to do better for her. She deserved it.
“I’ll try to be better,” he said. “But just give me some time.”
She smiled, and he realized now just how close they were. She was close enough that he could see her individual eyelashes. She was close enough that her perfume surrounded him. She was close enough that all it would take was a simple gesture from either of them to start something they may or may not regret.
“I think I can do that,” she said.
Chapter 10 - Nikki
“He took you on a picnic?” Amber asked, gawking at Nikki, her eyes almost comically wide.
“Yeah, though I’m not sure why that merits that sort of reaction,” Nikki said. “It’s just a picnic.”
Amber gave Nikki the same look one might give a willfully ignorant child. “A picnic is never just a picnic,” she said. “It’s too romantic.”
Nikki’s face grew hot while Amber’s giddy grin grew wider. She shouldn’t feel this flustered about a simple picnic, but her friend had a point. Despite Nikki’s insistence that there had been nothing to it, there had been something special about it. Something almost… romantic.
“How was it?” Amber asked when Nikki remained quiet.
“It was … nice,” Nikki said. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks despite herself, and she glanced away. “It was fun. He was sweet.”
She didn’t talk about the way she had nearly kissed him despite her common sense telling her it was a bad idea. She didn’t talk about the way she had wanted to lean in and kiss him.
Amber practically squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “It’s sweet that he did something like that for you. It means he cares.”
Nikki smirked, but kept her mouth shut. The picnic had made things even more complicated. Until then, it had been easy to simply be angry at Jasper. Now, both with the picnic and their date at the restaurant—had it been a date? What else could she call it?—Things were beginning to get muddied and confusing. It had been simpler when she could just be angry at him. She stillwasn’t happy with him, but she at least understood more about where he was coming from.
“Come on, give me the details,” Amber insisted.
“No!”
