238

For days afterwards I couldn’t look Lauren or Chandra in the eye and Ally seemed to notice that something had happened. It took her three days to corner me, three days of her sleeping in my bed and my mind working overtime.

“Are you sleeping with them?”

“No.”

Her eyes held a hint of sadness as she looked at me. “But you want to.”

“What does it even matter if I want to or not?”

“Because I wake up every morning with your erection pressed against my ass.”

I sighed and briefly closed my eyes. “If it bothers you so much go sleep in the guest room. We’re not a thing, Ally.”

“Not yet.” Determination were steeled in her eyes and I had no clue what she actually wanted.

My days were swamped with requests since news had spread that I wasn’t dead. Ivan was the first to call me and I could hear the emotions in his voice as he yelled at me for being alive while I laughed. Our conversation about Mintia wasn’t a good one.

Milo fell into step next to me every morning as I jogged through Chehalis and soon it became so routine that I looked forward to our time together. Milo had changed a lot, he wasn’t the playboy he once used to be and I was glad for that, otherwise I’d have to break his face for hurting Abby.

“It’s weird how much things change.”

Milo and I sat on the wooden stumps by the river, our fishing rods already cast in and I opened a beer as I turned my head to look at him. “Things are supposed to change.”

“I never really saw myself married with a kid.”

“Neither did I, until I loved Luce.”

“And Ally?”

“What about Ally?” I didn’t really want to talk about her. I was still mad at her and Echo grumbled in my mind everyday to get over it.

“The winds are changing, Wynter, and you’re going to have to decide what you’re going to do about it.”

“It worked out for you, Milo, it doesn’t for everyone.”

“It’s a choice, Brother. I chose to stick with Abby, chose to love her and I’d choose it every single time.”

I grinned at the serious tone in Milo’s voice. “Because she calls you Daddy?”

“Piss off.” He chuckled suddenly and shook his head. “She doesn’t actually.”

“What do you want me to say, Milo? I don’t know what I’m doing with Ally, I don’t know what she wants but I do know that I want both my children in my house.”

“All I’m saying is don’t let your pride and your heart take another mother away from your children. Have you seen her with Riley? She takes care of her like she takes care of Hunter. She’s doing that because she loves you and therefor loves Riley. Isn’t that what you want?”

“She’s not Riley’s mother, Luciana is.”

“Luciana is dead!” My eyes flashed yellow as I glared at Milo. I knew all too well that she was dead; it haunted me every day.

“You weren’t there, Milo. You don’t know what it was like with us. You didn’t know her so stop telling me that she’s dead, I know she’s dead!”

“Fine, be an idiot.” Milo stood up from the stump and walked away from me as I sat there and stared out at the river. I rubbed a hand over my head and sighed.

‘What the hell am I doing?’ I thought to myself. I had a second chance at life here in Chehalis. My family gave up everything to be here. My father, my mother, Abby and Milo, Chandra and Lauren and even Ally. She was my family, always had been.

I settled back into my routine with exercising, my woodwork and my house. Something had changed with Ally, after that discussion we’d had she didn’t sleep in my bed anymore but moved her stuff to the guest room.

She remained friendly, but not overly so, she went with me to the store and at the end of that first month she handed me an envelope with cash. “What’s this?”

“Half of the utilities, food and rent for me and Hunter.”

“I don’t want your money, Ally.” I pushed the envelope back towards her.

“And I don’t want your charity, Wynter. I’m Hunter’s mother and I can take care of us.”

“I know you can take care of yourself but Hunter’s my son too. I don’t want your money.”

Ally rolled her eyes at me and pushed the envelope back towards me. “I’m not going to live here for free and eat your food. That’s my half, do what you want with it. I’m nobody’s charity case.”

“Who the hell said anything about charity?” She was pushing my last nerve now and I could feel the irritation rising.

“I’m not going to argue with you, Wynter, it wouldn’t help either way. It’s always your way or nothing. We share a son and that’s all. I’m here because you wanted to get to know Hunter. I’m not your friend, I’m not even your family anymore and I’m not your ex. Take the money.”

I caught her wrist as she walked past me and stepped in front of her. “What the hell do you mean that you’re not even my family anymore?”

“Nothing … let go of my arm.”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at her intently. “What happened to you, Ally?”

I could see the fleeting emotions in her eyes and she blinked as they glistened with unshed tears. “You happened to me, Wynter.”

“You happened to me too, Ally. You weren’t the only one! You rejected me remember!”

“You asked me to reject you! You’re an asshole, Wynter, especially when you don’t get what you want!”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. It was only half true though. “That’s not true! I said you should reject me if it’s what you wanted!”

“It wasn’t what I wanted, it’s what you wanted!”

“I wanted you, Ally. I wanted you forever and you threw it back in my face.”

The anger flashed in her eyes. “Screw you, Wynter! You left me! I’m so done with this. I’m done with you!”

Echo pushed forward and my eyes flashed yellow as I gripped her tighter and kissed her. She hesitated for all of two seconds before she kissed me back. I lifted her onto the counter and pressed myself against her.

She moaned against my mouth and her hands went to my jeans, unbuttoning the button and my hands found her jeans as well. Her hands roamed underneath my shirt and I pulled her jeans down to her knees, pulling her off the counter and pressing her down instead.

My fingers trailed down and inbetween her thighs as her hands gripped the counter. I wasn’t thinking about anything except her in that moment. My hand was on her back, keeping her down on the counter as I pushed inside her.

It was savage, rough and dirty. I could hear her hipbones slamming against the counter but I didn’t care. She pushed back against me just as hard as I pushed into her. My fingers dug into her hips and the sounds coming from her pushed me over the edge.

I came hard when her internal muscles clamped me tightly and Echo relinquished his hold over me. I was breathing hard and the moment my eyes turned back to green I realized exactly what I had just done. I pulled out of her and stammered backwards, feeling sick to my stomach.

“Wynter …”

Her voice cleared the fog from my mind. “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Yes, you did. We both wanted what just happened.” She pushed herself up from the counter and I couldn’t look at her as she pulled her jeans back up. “Look at me, Wynter.”

“No, this was a mistake and it won’t happen again.”

I turned around to walk away but she blocked my exit and slapped me hard through my face. “I hate the control you have over me. I hate that I love you and I hate how you just used me. I hate you, Wynter.”

I stood there stunned as she walked out of the kitchen and I hated myself because I had just used her. Echo had taken control but I let him. I could’ve stopped if I really wanted to but even when she rejected me, I’d still loved her.

Ally avoided me like the plague. She ignored me too unless the children were present but I could see that she had really meant it when she said she hated me. Everything was a mess and Ryder was of no help at all. He laughed in my face and told me to sort out my own problems.

After a week of being treated like I had leprosy I’d had enough. Hunter and Riley were spending the night with Chandra and Lauren and I was going to make her talk to me. We needed to come to some sort of agreement if we were going to be a family.

I cooked dinner and set the table. After their bath I knocked on her door where she was reading them a story. The door was open but I still knocked. “Come on kids, sleepover time. Chandra and Lauren’s got a great surprise for you two.”

“What sleepover?” Ally didn’t look at me, she looked past me.

“Just what I said.”

I walked the kids over to their house and their excitement made me smile. I opened the front door and Lauren got up from the couch. “Hey guys!”

There were hugs and kisses and then Chandra appeared with a basket for each of them. “I’ve prepared a whole scavenger hunt for you two. The first clue is in the kitchen!”

I watched them each grab a basket and run to the kitchen. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Of course, sort your shit out, Wynter.” I nodded my head and left to go back home.

I took a deep breath as I closed the front door. I took the stairs two at a time and stood in front of Ally’s now closed bedroom door and knocked again. “Ally …. can we talk please?”

She opened the door and looked at me questioningly. “Why?”

“Come downstairs and eat with me so we can talk this out like the adults we are. We can’t live with the tension in this house, it’s not good for any of us. I want to sort it out, please.”

She followed me downstairs but didn’t say anything about the set table, the dinner I’d cooked or the flowers on the table. She sat down before I could pull out a chair for her and I realized that this conversation was going to be anything but easy.

“Talk Wynter.” She didn’t look impressed at all and she seemed more irritated with me than ever.

“I don’t want to fight, Ally. We can live in the same house in peace.”

“I don’t think we can, Wynter. I’ve already made arrangements; I’m taking Hunter back to Greece, to the home he knows.”

My fists clenched together on top of the table. “You can’t do that.”

“I can and I am doing that. You’re not on his birth certificate but you are his father. He was born in Greece so any fight you want to take on will happen in Greece. You’re entitled to a third of the time that he spends with me, that gives you roughly four months a year which can be divided into his school holidays.”

“That’s not what we talked about and it’s not what I want.”

“I don’t care about what you want anymore. I’ve tried, Wynter, but I can’t do this anymore. If you want to fight then fight it, but this is me being generous. Take it or leave it but we’re going home.”

“This is his home.”

Ally sighed and glanced down at her lap for a few seconds before looking at me again. “This is your home, Wynter, with your daughter. Hunter is my son and our home is in Greece. My uncle has asked me to take my place at court and I’m going home to meet the arranged husband he wants me to marry. I deserve happiness too and I can’t live here with you playing hot and cold, kissing me and trying to screw me into submission. I’m not the Ally you remember and I’m nobody’s floor mat.”

“Ally, don’t do this to me. Don’t leave.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow night.”