Chapter 129

FREDA WHITLOCK

“Do you, by any chance have any clean clothes my size?” I asked. He was silent for a moment before he spoke. “A couple,” he said, sounding embarrassed. I listened to his footsteps till the sound of them disappeared down the hall. I was almost feeling sick. We were acting like two teenagers who were crushing on each other and asked to stay with each other in the same house.

I started to think… Well, I allowed myself to. I did not know what I was doing. I was not sure. Just yesterday, I had been talking to Cole about being with him and we had gone to drink to that. A few hours later, I was losing my mind over Kaiden. He was in my head. He was in my heart. He was in my car. He was everywhere I went.

I had said a lot of stupid and unkind things to him the previous night. I was not sure I regretted them because they made me realize he could actually feel. I was not sure why I had always assumed he could not feel, but I had. He knew my pain. He regretted hurting me. He regretted everything. He wished he could take it all back. It was in the air all around us.

But that was the thing. He could not take it back. He could not stop all the pain I had felt back then, and the years after. He could not change the fact that it was his fault I had been so lonely for so long. He could not change all of those. It gave me a sense of peace, knowing he felt bad for all he had done to me.

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That was all I could get. Peace. I did not want to be with him. He was with my sister, and even though the thought of giving in to him, to our mate bond had crossed my mind once or twice, I could not do it. Some things just needed to be left in the past.

Now, the only kind of relationship I wanted to have with him was one a woman would have with the father of her child who she did not love anymore. Because that was it. I did not love him, but I did not hate him. I had tried to hate him, but I could not.

“Freda?” He knocked on the door and I unlocked it. He pushed it open a c**k and stuck his hand through. I took the yellow material from his hand and he pulled it back. “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll be out in a bit,” I added and he only grunted in response.

I listened to his footsteps disappear as he walked down the hallway before I took the towel off myself. I spread out the yellow material to see what it was exactly and I was surprised when a pair of lingerie fell to the ground. My cheeks flamed red as I picked the black lacey materials. It was nice of him to think. that far. At the same time, it was uncomfortable.

I pulled off the price tags from them and put them on. I stood in front of the mirror after I was fully dressed and admired how the dress complimented my hair color and skin tone.

It was like everything in this house, every single detail had been done with me in consideration. It very well could have been wishful thinking, but it filled me with warmth and gave me a sense of comfort.

I stepped out of the bathroom, clutching the clothes I had taken off in my arms, and headed back to the living room. I heard Kaiden shuffling around in the kitchen and I headed there after dropping my clothes on the sofa. I did not want to stay long

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because I had not slept at home the previous night, and I knew that Lyra would be furious and worried.

Where was my phone anyway? I did not have any memory of it aside from when I had been at Francisco’s school to get my car.

“Thanks for the clothes,” I said after clearing my throat. Kaiden looked up at me and I felt fire kick up my body as he looked at me. He studied every single detail of the dress on my body and he appreciated it. My hair was still a little wet so I had pulled it up in a bun so I could take care of it when I got back home.

He nodded and looked down at the bowl in front of him. He let out a sigh before he looked at me. “I… I never thought we’d come here or I’d ever bring anyone here. I don’t have anything edible,” he said, shaking his head. He looked a little ashamed and I smiled. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’ll be leaving now. Lyra must be worried sick, even though I can take care of myself, and I can’t find my phone anywhere,” I said, turning away from him. As I did that, I caught sight of Lyra’s handkerchief sitting on the glass surface of the dining table.

I blinked and picked it up. “Is this Lyra’s?” I asked, turning to look at him. He was placing the bowl back in its place. He looked at my face and then down at the thing I was holding up.

“Yeah. She… Left it with Harper yesterday and I took it with me,” he responded. I knew he was holding a certain detail back but I was not going to push him for it. I nodded and set it back down on the table. “You can give it back to her for me,” he said and I picked it back up.

Whatever it was that had happened between then, I could ask Lyra about it.

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“Need a ride?” I asked him, grabbing my key off the coffee table. “Yeah,” he said. I took my clothes with me and walked out of the door. He followed suit. “Carina lock the doors. I’m leaving for a while,” he said and a feminine Al voice responded to his

instruction. I heard the door click shut and then lock behind us.

My heart thumped in my chest because I knew, I was sure I had mentioned something about having a built-in Al assistant to him: “What is this place?” I looked around at the trees surrounding us and then the dirt path that led out of the driveway and away from here.

He walked to the car with me. “It was supposed to be our home.” He simply said in response.

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