AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Cedar
Aurorahasbeenplasteredto my side, providing me some semblance of comfort in the fact that she hasn’t stopped leaking from her eyeballs, not once, and has been a constant reminder that it’s okay to let others see the emotion.
Doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Because when I look around the room, every other person also here is in some state ofholy shit, what do we dofor the very same reason.
It’s fucked up, but it’s giving me some level of peace with the tears that collect on my lashes.
My best friend is both having her baby and is having a really fucking tough time with it.
Pulling in a deep breath through a chest that would rather cave under the weight of what I refuse to accept as possible, I uncross and cross my legs enough that it jostles Aurora’s head on my shoulder. Her eyes peer up at me, red rimmed and raccooned, and I see something else shining in her irises.
Curiosity.
“He called you ‘sweetness’,” she states with an air of disdain tainting her question and wings her brow. “Or did I imagine that?”
I purse my lips and shrug the shoulder she still leans on so that it fucks with her head placement. “And?”
“Ew.”
I almost snicker at her response. “You mad, bro.”
“Um,” Aurora drags and blows out a heavy breath. “Fuck, I wish I could be.”
Blinking at her unexpected response, I pull back and palm her shoulders to force her upright. “What’s that supposed to mean, squirt?”
She shrugs and lets out a sigh. “I don’t know. I guess I want to be ’cause I don’t want you assholes to leave me all alone, but I spent all those weeks being mad at Ari before and now she’s—” Her eyes well up with a fresh batch of tears that make my own itch. “I just …” Aurora lifts another shoulder and reaches up to swipe her used tissue beneath her nose. “You deserve happiness more than anyone, C.”
My shoulders inch down from my ears, my head tilting to the side. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Duh,” she says on a roll of her watering eyes and a shake of her head. “I know I’m fucking selfish sometimes, but I also want you guys to be happy. For real.”
She drops her head and fiddles with the tissue in her hands. “Squirt,” I say and squeeze her biceps to get her eyes back up on me. “You’ll get there one day, too.”
I watch Aurora’s eyes trail over my shoulder for a moment to where I assume Jonathon is stationed only to return to mine, the air around us shifting away from the jealousy Aurora is known to hold. “So you really love him, then, huh?”
“Fuck,baby sis.” I shake my head and can’t stop the small lift at the corner of my lips. “I really fucking do. I don’t know how. Or why, but yeah.” My grin grows slightly at the thought of Fin’s warmth cradling around me just this morning. “I love him.”
Aurora returns my small smile, her eyes going back over my shoulder as she leans in close to stage-whisper. “Then maybe you should tell him to his face. He looks like he could use it.”
“What?” I hiss with wide eyes and a snicker from Aurora as I slowly turn to find the man that holds my heart staring down at us. “Hotshot?How much of that did you hear?” I ask with a grit to my teeth on that final bit.
Fin’s hands are on me, pulling me to my feet and crushing me to his chest in the warmest bear hug I’ve ever gotten. His lips are on my forehead, breathing me in as I lean into the wild beat of his heart in his chest. “Just enough, sweetness.”
I bite my lip to hold back the flood of emotion that threatens to overtake me once again, only to lose the battle and have my tears soaking into Fin’s shirt.
God, he smells like home.
“Cedar,” Fin nearly whispers, his deep voice thick against the crown of my head, tickling the strands of hair there. “God, I love you.”
“Fin.” I barely choke out and grip his shirt. “Stop it.”
“Never.” I feel the subtle shake of his head against mine when his lips refuse to leave my hair and his arms tighten around me. “I’ll never stop. You are my salvation. My destination. Myhome.”
“Oh my God,” I cry harder into his chest, but his words don’t stop praising me, reassuring me.
