\u00a0<\/p>\n
9\/11\u00a0<\/p>\n
201 The wrong help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zevran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stared at me like I was mad; and truthfully at this point, I couldn\u2019t blame her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because tell me why my heart was racing so much?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tell me why my hands were shaking so badly and why I was stuttering so much, I couldn\u2019t even\u00a0<\/p>\n
force out a coherent sentence?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leilani was still sitting in the snow, her eyes still wide as she stared at me with open confusion. And I\u2026 the confused idiot, I still couldn\u2019t bring myself to speak or touch her in fear of not being able to control myself or the words I would say\u00a0<\/p>\n
next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment of insanely awkward silence, I slowly got out of the car, stretched my hands\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:15\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
toward her and nodded, as if saying: \u201cTake my\u00a0<\/p>\n
hand!\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she didn\u2019t take it. Hell, she wouldn\u2019t even stop looking at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes held emotions that made me jittery, and I hate to say this but only her stares were enough to turn my knees into jello.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gulped, swallowing the large bile now settling somewhere in my throat before I managed to rasp out; \u201cLeilani, it\u2019s freezing cold\u2026\u201d and you shouldn\u2019t be in the snow. I said, ultimately refusing to voice out the rest of the sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At my voice, she raised her eyes to look at me again, and then slowly\u2026 very slowly took my\u00a0<\/p>\n
hands in hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And goddess, I wanted to melt!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to dissolve into the floor and be\u00a0<\/p>\n
reincarnated as a vanilla ice cream so that she\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:15\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
could lick me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to take her hands in mine forever and\u00a0<\/p>\n
never let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to grow old here\u2026 to die here. To be\u00a0<\/p>\n
reborn here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jolts of electricity ran up the length of my arm as soon as she took my hands, and I had to stifle a moan to stop myself from embarrassing myself further than I already have.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pulled her to her feet easily and smiled when she nodded at me, her voice soft as she\u00a0<\/p>\n
whispered; \u201cThank you\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t respond. I couldn\u2019t stop looking at her. Bloody hades, I couldn\u2019t even bring myself to let go of her even though she was currently looking at me like I was stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tugged at her hand again and this time- so as not to be seen as perverse- I begrudgingly let\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
BU dliu U\u0f26\u0f0b \u0f25\u00a0<\/p>\n
a\u00a0<\/p>\n
T\u00a0<\/p>\n
around us in confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou brought me to your house?\u201d I asked in confusion, immediately hating myself for asking that as her face soon dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The small smile on her face melted, replaced instead with a frown so deep, the earth\u2019s core\u00a0<\/p>\n
was a joke, and then she seethed; \u201cDid you follow me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to lie. I wanted to pretend like I didn\u2019t know what she was talking about, or that we had walked into the same place coincidentally at the same time; But something about her eyes made it impossible for me to lie to her. It felt like a truth serum- only that I couldn\u2019t drink it\u2014 and made my heart race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head then nodded. \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How do I even know why?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How do I tell her why?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do I say that I had seen her leaving her house and gotten worried about her safety, hence the reason I followed her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do I tell her I have an obsession with ensuring\u00a0<\/p>\n
that she is safe?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew that all of those were true but how do I\u00a0<\/p>\n
say them to her without looking stupid? Or perhaps like the obsessive creep that I was?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was however snapped out of my reverie when she leaned close and snapped her fingers in my face, causing me to jump- not from fright but from a weird kind of excitement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I whispered; \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes thinned as soon as I said that. She\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
5\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
folded her arms across her chest, glared pointedly at me and spat; \u201cI would need more than that, Alpha Stormborn,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the gods, call me Zevran, Leilani!\u201d I hissed before I could stop myself, my face heating up in embarrassment when she tilted her head to the\u00a0<\/p>\n
side, watching me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another awkward second passed and then she whispered; \u201cWhy did you follow me?\u201d And this time, I knew that I couldn\u2019t escape telling her the truth. That I couldn\u2019t lie to her\u2026 that I couldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
pretend like I fight hear the things I heard; So I said;\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw you leaving your house earlier tonight and I got scared that you were walking headfirst into danger\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026and you decided to come with me?\u201d She asked; But I didn\u2019t miss the tinge of annoyance in her tone. I didn\u2019t miss the way her eyes had hardened\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
6\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
so much, diamonds must feel like a joke right now, and how she had stiffened so much it felt like she was disgusted to be in the same space as\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gulped again, in embarrassment this time, and nodded. \u201cYes,\u201d then when she still wouldn\u2019t respond, I added; \u201cI know it was wrong for me to do\u2026.. but I cannot help it. I could not help the panic I felt when I caught you sneaking out of your house dressed like you were going for some\u00a0<\/p>\n
secret CIA mission.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was none of your business!\u201d She bit back, immediately making my swelling heart deflate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t like the way she looked at me like I was\u00a0<\/p>\n
nothing but a nuisance. It hurt that no matter what I do, she would never like me. And even though I knew that I didn\u2019t follow her because I wanted her to like me but because I was genuinely worried about her, her reaction still pinched a little too deeply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
7\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed. \u201cI was wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d she hissed as she turned and began to walk away. But I couldn\u2019t let her go like this. I didn\u2019t want her to remain this pissed at me. We\u00a0<\/p>\n
needed to talk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hell, we even left my car back there!\u00a0<\/p>\n
So like a puppet, I followed behind her, wincing when I bumped into her back when she stopped\u00a0<\/p>\n
in front of her door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another jolt of electricity ran through my body but I had no time to think about it because her\u00a0<\/p>\n
eyes thinned as she turned around to regard me; and in the coldest voice I\u2019ve ever heard, she spat; \u201cWhy are you still following me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shrugged. \u201cBecause I am cold and it is snowing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFind your way home!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is too late to go back there for my car or to book an Uber home.\u201d I supplied, looking for more\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
8\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
SHETH BOAR\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
201 The wrong help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
reasons to remain by her side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She scoffed but said nothing, and as we stepped into her cozy home that smells just like her, I blurted the one thing I knew I shouldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said; \u201cI overheard your conversation with that\u00a0<\/p>\n
guy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I knew thatI shouldn\u2019t have because she\u00a0<\/p>\n
instantly froze, and her face hardened once\u00a0<\/p>\n
more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leilani.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s none of your business!\u201d I spat for the nth time this night, but instead of leaving like I had anticipated, he came closer, so close that his warmth seeped into my clothes\u2026 and so close that I could smell him- rich, sweet but stupid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He shook his head. \u201cI can help you.\u201d He said, and while that should\u2019ve made me feel even the\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
9\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
201 The wrong help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
tiniest bit better, it didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, it made me extremely annoyed. It made me want to rip his head off his neck and perhaps help him with some brain which he lacked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands shook violently as I set my keys onto the counter; and I was only snapped out of my momentary moment of angry blindness when I felt his hands on my shoulders, halting my\u00a0<\/p>\n
movements, and annoyingly setting my body on\u00a0<\/p>\n
fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said in a quiet voice; \u201cI can help you find out if the Lycan guy lied to you\u2026 I can get your parents\u2018 samples to conduct a DNA test since they\u2019re locked up in our pack\u2019s cell. I can piece together those parts of his story that seem disjointed. Just try me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I wanted to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Goddess, I needed someone to help out with this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
10\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
201 The wrong help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I needed someone who I could easily talk to\u2026 someone who wouldn\u2019t try to talk me out of what I was about to do\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026and while Zevran poised to be all of those, I still couldn\u2019t bring myself to trust him. I mean, he is Zevran Stormborn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I shook my head. \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I do not need your help. No, you\u2019re not supposed to be here and you should never have heard what you heard\u2026 and no, you shouldn\u2019t be in my house because I can vividly remember filing for a restraining order against you and your\u00a0<\/p>\n
brothers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we own the court,\u201d he answered slowly, infuriating me even further.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you do,\u201d I spat in anger, \u201c\u2026and I know that you have the power to overturn anything but I\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:16\u00a0<\/p>\n
11\/13\u00a0<\/p>\n
201 The wrong neip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
don\u2019t want you exercising your power in front of me. I also do not want you anywhere around me..\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe I didn\u2019t intend to sound so harsh but as soon as the words started coming out, I could no longer stop them,\u00a0<\/p>\n
-And to my utmost surprise, Zevran simply nodded, then turned and left without sparing me another glance, and without a care that he had no car, and that it was late\u2026 and that it was snowing heavily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He just left. 2<\/p>\n
Healing Slowly But Surely By R. Joseph 201 \u00a0 9\/11\u00a0 201 The wrong help.\u00a0 Zevran.\u00a0 1\u00a0 She stared at me […]<\/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":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chosen-by-none-feared-by-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23404","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=23404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}