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No, he didn’t get to ask Harley for everything but then only give her the parts he chose She wanted the broken parts too Wanted all of him And Torrie was a part of him--the other half of his soul If he couldn’t share that part of himself, Torrie’s memory would effectively become a barrier between them

Maybe a part of hi behind it, not wanting to risk feeling that depth of pain ever again Harley didn’t know She did know that she’d been wrong about her place in his heart She wasn’t wedged as deep as she’d thought, wasn’t as vital to hi And now she didn’t knohat to do about it

She could cut her losses and leave But she kneould happen if she did Jesse would tell her what she wanted to know, sure, but he’d do it for the wrong reason It wouldn’t be hi what he had to do to ly That wouldn’t fix anything

She could stay, giving him the ti work But she’d, all the while, be aware that he didn’t care for her as ht, aware that she cared for him more than he did her That would eat at her and twist her up inside, though not enough to grow to hate himwhich was a shao

So what the fuck should she do? God help her, she didn’t have a clue Her cat was just assuch a decision while her eh would be a bad idea Harley never ood decisions while she was hurt or pissed And there wasn’t a lot she could do at this late hour anyway

To she was sure of was that if she did decide to go, she’d need to have the words to make him understand that it was best for both of theth, he’d just harass her to stay And she eak enough to do just that, hating to hurt hi out of the shower, she quickly dried off and pulled on her robe Opening the bathroom door, she found an empty bedroom The bastard hadn’t just dised her robe for shorts and a tank top before sliding into bed It took a while for the chaos in her mind to calm, but eventually sleep crept up on her

She was half asleep when a solid body curved around hers and one hand splayed over her sto him, she forced herself to relax She’d need her sleep to deal with him tomorrow

Jesse woke up alone It took only ht pushed to the forefront of histook hold in his stouard and, in doing so, hurt the one person who shouldn’t have to fear he’d ever hurt her If he’d just calmly explained he didn’t want to talk about Torrie, Harley probably would have accepted that But no, he’d been unnecessarily cold

Rolling onto his back, he pinched the bridge of his nose God, he was such a dick His wolf pushed against his skin, urging him to seek her out That hat he’d do He needed to find her and fix this Cats were notorious for holding grudges, but Harley would accept an apology with grace if it were heartfelt He was counting on that now

Once he ashed and dressed, Jesse headed downstairs Harley was nowhere to be seen, so he exited the patio door and saw that, yep, she was sitting in the tree with a book She didn’t look at hih she had to have sensed him She was fully dressed in a pair of slashed jeans and a pale-blue T-shirt--a T-shirt that hid his clai that wasn’t intentional In any case, it annoyed his wolf

"Morning, baby," he greeted gently, testing the waters

She looked down at hi" She seemed serene Relaxed Trouble free Which ht back to her book

"Come here," he coaxed

Gold eyes cut to hiot hiht, he’d do it froht I didn’t y accepted"

He sensed it wasn’t a lie He also sensed that, though shehe wasn’t sure he kne to fix And it didn’t bode well for hi down the tree

"Baby," he said "Baby, look at aze met his, and his enhanced vision picked up that it was clear and tranquil, yet there was soh him, and his wolf’s hackles rose "Don’t hate me"

"I don’t hate you"

"Then don’t wish you could" Her eyes flashed Ah, he’d hit the nail on the head there "I told you before that you’reI meant it"

Harley knew her smile was a little sad She was , but not so ihts to hison whether to stay or go She was very tempted to just pack her shit and er and wounded pride, not good sense And walking out felt tooup Harley had never been a quitter