All Chapters of Alpha Lockwood: Chapter 81 - Chapter 84

Nathan:She was tipsy, not enough to lose herself, just enough that the tightness in her shoulders had eased, enough that her laughter came easier, softer, warmer, like she’d finally stopped bracing for impact.And I didn’t want the night to end.I hated how honest that was, and I hated how quickly I’d gotten used to her being beside me, because before Mia, I’d never realized how loud silence could be.And now the thought of going back upstairs alone felt unbearable. It was a reminder of my reality, one that I knew I didn’t want to think about tonight.I swirled the last of the scotch in my glass, buying myself a second, then finally looked down at her. “Stay a little longer,” I whispered, holding her gaze. “I know that you want to go back up there, but just a while longer.”Her eyes lifted to mine, warm now, softened in a way that caught me off guard. She was no longer as guarded as she was earlier. She was trusting something that I knew she allowed herself to give into.“Nathan…” she

Nathan:I expected her to avoid me. Honestly, I would have understood her if she chose to.After last night, after how close we came to crossing that line, I thought she might decide distance was easier. Safer. But I wasn’t going to allow that to happen, not when we came this close into turning our truth into a beautiful reality.So when I sat near the pool that morning with a cup of coffee in front of me, I fully expected Brenda and Rosalyn to show up first with an awkward excuse about Mia “not feeling well.”Instead, when I caught her scent, I looked up and saw her walking toward me. And for a second, I forgot how to breathe properly. She looked nervous, beautiful, but nervous.Her eyes found mine immediately, then darted away just as quickly. I caught the tension in the way her shoulders stiffened. She was scared of my reaction. That realization settled heavily in my chest.Rosalyn, however, had none of that tension. The second she spotted me, she lit up, and though I did my best n