Page 60 of Oathbreaker

Everything else, even a deadly glare from the shrewdest businessman in the world, is nothing but a glancing blow.

“I need time,” he says finally, putting his hands in his pockets. “To get right with…everything. You and Briar?—”

“I love her now and I loved her then,” I respond bluntly. “I fought it. She fought it. We did our best to play by the unwritten rules you guys set up. But we couldn’t. And just before I left, we laid everything on the line. I was going to marry her, man. There was no bullshit hooking up going on. She was never a conquest or a notch in my bedpost. Briar and me—it was the real deal.” I glance over to where she’s laughing with Aspen and Lily, and for a moment neither of us speaks.

“She’s with West,” he says. “For the first time since… well, since you died, she’s finally happy. Don’t come in here, mess that up, and then go chasing whatever high you were after five years ago.”

I shake my head firmly. “That’s done. I quit and I’m not going back. You have my word, Atlas. I’ll never hurt her—or any of you—again.” I extend my hand—and wait.

He looks down at it hesitantly.

Then, ever so slowly, he puts his hand in mine. “I still need a little time.”

“I understand.”

“Welcome home, brother.”

Fuck, but that feels good.

Nineteen

Briar

“And then Magnus walked out, and his entire car was wrapped in plastic.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I say, setting my wineglass on the table.

He grins, and I can’t deny it’s a wonderful smile, one that used to make my heart skip a beat.

Now…I like it.

Like it a lot—that he smiles easily and laughs often, that he shares and is sweet and patient and open with me.

But now I can’t help but feel like something’s changed.

Because the thing I let go, the person I said goodbye to is currently occupying my guest room.

Mentally groaning because that thought—along with the guilt it’s so joyfully wrapped in—is completely unwelcome. Especially right now, especially when West and I have finally been able to make up for our canceled date.

During the season, his schedule is shit.

Mine is always busy, what with Frankie and work and travel.

But now Colt is back, and I don’t have to do it on my own—or do it on my own as much as Dash, Atlas, Royal, Banks, and the girls had ever allowed me to.

It’s different with Colt, though.

There’s no guilt, not like I battle when the guys and girls watch her. He’s Frankie’s dad and they’re settling in slowly together and they need to make up for lost time.

But part of me wonders if that’s really why I’m so comfortable.

Or if it’s just because Colt and I have started to settle back into our old selves.

Meals together.

Talking about everything and nothing.

Sharing looks across the dinner table that only we can decipher, slipping back into inside jokes and quiet smiles and?—