Nan was seated on the couch in the far side of the room and Chester\u2019s eyes widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLadies have a couch in their bathroom?\u201d Chester asked, amazed. He shut the door behind him and locked it so they wouldn\u2019t be disturbed.<\/p>\n
Nan didn\u2019t bother retorting; she stared at her hands thankful that the tears finally stopped flowing so Chester didn\u2019t see how broken she was over this whole thing. Little did she know, he could feel it.<\/p>\n
He stepped closer to her, wanting to give her space and yet wanting to close the distance between them with a desperation he didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cNan\u2026\u201d he finally said, his tone soft and filled with compassion. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. I didn\u2019t mean for any of that to happen. She won\u2019t be a problem for you anymore, you have my word.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nan glanced up at him and his heart broke when he saw that her eyes were red with unshed tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew so much about you, Chester. You love her\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNO,\u201d he said quickly as he stepped closer to her. \u201cI\u2019ve known her for a long time, that\u2019s why she knows so much. But I don\u2019t, nor have I ever, loved her. She was saying what she believed to be true, but it wasn\u2019t how I felt.\u201dnoveldrama<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s never going to leave you alone\u2026\u201d Nan whispered, tears starting to spill down her cheeks.<\/p>\n
He sat down on the couch beside her and took her face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his thumbs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have my word, Nan. She won\u2019t be a problem anymore. I\u2019m so sorry our first date was ruined. I\u2019m sorry this happened. But I promise you, it won\u2019t happen again. Please, don\u2019t hate me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
There was desperation in his voice, and she found herself drawn to his sincerity. She closed her eyes, letting more tears fall and he wiped them each with his thumbs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does this have to be so hard?\u201d She whispered. \u201cI thought it\u2019d be easy once I found my mate\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He let out a soft chuckle.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything easy about mating,\u201d he murmured. \u201cBut I want to give this a chance\u2026 a real chance. Please, don\u2019t close the door on us just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sniffled and nodded her head once.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d she whispered. \u201cI won\u2019t close the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relief flooded him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. She was surprised by the gesture, but the moment her head touched his chest, she melted into him, feeling at ease for once in her life. He felt himself melting as well, loving the feel of her in his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we go somewhere else?\u201d He asked. \u201cMaybe a walk. I\u2019m done with this place.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded, though she wanted to remain in his arms like this for a while. He wanted to keep holding her. So, they remained like that for a bit longer. Holding one another as if their lives depended on it.<\/p>\n
Soon, he was releasing her, though he immediately grabbed her hand.<\/p>\n
When he opened the bathroom door, Judy was on the other side of it with her arms folded across her chest.<\/p>\n
She glanced up at Chester and then at Nan, her eyes narrowed as if asking Nan if she was okay to leave with him.<\/p>\n
Nan nodded, answering the unspoken question and Judy\u2019s expression softened as she stepped aside.<\/p>\n
Chester took Nan out of the restaurant, ignoring the onlooking eyes of literally everyone in the place.<\/p>\n
They walked around the city, holding hands and talking; really talking. Chester opened up about his family and how his mother passed away a few years ago. He talked about his Alpha father and how Chester didn\u2019t want to take over the pack and pretty much allowed his brother to train for the position instead so Chester could pursue his dreams as a chef, which his father never approved of. He spoke about how Gavin opened up his pack to Chester and allowed him to pursue his dreams and how he got to know the Landry family. He even talked about how he got to know Harper and why she\u2019s so obsessed with him.<\/p>\n
He knew that the conversation was hard for Nan to hear about his relationship with Harper, but the air needed to be cleared. He needed Nan to trust him and to open herself up to him.<\/p>\n
After Chester was done telling her his life story, they were seated at the local park, his arms draped around her shoulders and her body pulled close to his. They had fallen in a comfortable silence when Nan<\/p>\n
finally spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to school with Judy when I\u2019m not working,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI\u2019m in the culinary program.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes grew large as he stared down at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how you knew so much about food and their seasonings\u2026\u201d he breathed; it<\/p>\n
was an observation, not a question.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI aspire to be a chef one day\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
His heart melted at the sound of her soft whisper and the words she spoke. He smiled down at his mate.<\/p>\n
His mate wanted to be a chef\u2026 like him.<\/p>\n
She looked almost embarrassed by it as she nibbled her lip. He cupped her face<\/p>\n
in his hands and brought her gaze to meet his.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can help you make your dreams a reality Nan\u2026 but I need you to start trusting me. Do you think you can d<\/p>\n
Sara is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
We Built a Kingdom From Ashes That Still Remembered Love by Aila Frost 407 Nan was seated on the couch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shadow-slave-by-author-novelnozi-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}