Jaded Anchor: The Wolf

Chapter Four- Rowen

“Do you want anything to drink? You went to a bar earlier; did you plan on drinking? Or were you just looking for yours truly?” Rowen asked her with a cocky grin. He searched her face carefully. She had always been a s**t liar, and he knew it.

“I… umm… yeah. I could use a drink. Why else would I have been at the Jaded Anchor?” He smirked seeing how fast she tried to pull her answer out. She had gone there hoping to see him. He could tell by the way Alexandra bit her lip watching as he walked to the kitchen and came back with two beers.

“I don’t have as much here as you could have gotten at the Jaded Anchor, but I have a beer if you want it.” He held out one of the bottles to her watching as her cheeks returned to their normal hue.

“Thank you,” Alexandra told him as she reached out to take the beer from him. HE loved seeing her blush it was one of her telltale signs of lying. She never could control her blushing.  

“So little siren, why did you really come back? Why do you want to be in Silverport, honestly? I’m sure you have a boyfriend up north who is waiting for you. Not to mention you must have a job there, and a house. Did you miss me that much?” Rowen teased a little too cockily. He had not changed much at all. Obviously, he was still her big bad. Not hers! He had given her up. f*****g i***t.  He chastised herself silently as he waited for her answer.

“I already told you why. I am coming back because I want to. Silverport is my home. I was born here. This place calls to me. It’s like I am missing a part of me. The longer I am gone the bigger the hole gets. It doesn’t matter that I have a job or a house in Tuscaloosa this is my home. I’ve even started dreaming of this particular beach.” The instant she mentioned dreaming her cheeks burned. He always liked watching her blush. He used to tell her that her cheeks matched her hair when she blushed. He was having a field day tonight with her blushing ass. It made him want to say other things to bring that color out.  

“Dreaming huh? Well from the color in those cheeks I’d say the dreams are pretty good. And if it was this beach then I know I was in those dreams. You never came here without me.” Rowen nudged her playfully before he invited her to join him in the living room. He sat down on the couch waiting for her to join him.  

“Come on, Lexie. I won’t bite. Not too hard at least.” He joked winking when she decided to join him.

“Oh, shut up, asshole,” Alexandra told him when she sat down on the opposite end of the couch. He noticed that she sat as far from him as she possibly could. She didn’t trust herself around Rowen. He just laughed because that made two of them. His laugh made her toss a pillow at his head.  

“You know…” Rowen said suddenly serious. “I’m not sure if you meant it earlier when you said I broke your heart. But for what it’s worth, I am sorry. I was young and I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want you to be tied down to someone here when you had your entire life ahead of you. You were sixteen. I knew you would be going off to college and I didn’t want you to miss out on anything because of me. If it makes you feel any better, after seeing you tonight, I will be kicking myself in the ass for the rest of my life for letting you go so easily.” He told her in a voice just above a whisper.  

She sucked in her breath, taking in his words. He knew she hadn’t known what she expected when she came over, but an apology wasn’t it. She sat silently trying to think of the right words to respond. Rowen watched as she opened then closed her mouth a few times. She really did look like a sea creature, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to make a joke and ruin whatever the hell kind of moment was happening between them at the moment.

“Thank you,” She began biting on her lip, “I think it’s a good thing we ended. It hurt, that part wasn’t a lie. You completely broke my heart, but I understood why… kinda. It took a year or so, but I got over it.” She watched as He took in her words. He couldn’t help but notice that she said she had gotten over ‘it’ instead of saying she had gotten over him. He hadn’t been misread the signs, Lexie wasn’t over him either.

“Alright. Enough deep s**t. I am about to turn on the cutest movie ever made about lions because I know it used to be your favorite. Feel free to sing along, because we both know I will be belting these songs out at the top of my lungs.” Rowen looked over her offering her a little smirk.

…

The movie and beers had been exactly what the two of them needed. Rowen had been right to choose her favorite movie from when she was younger. They sang all the songs out loud like idiots just the way they used to. By the end of the movie, Alexandra had left her spot in the corner and was now sitting right beside him with a bowl of popcorn, which he had fixed somewhere around the time that the little lion lost his father, between them.

Rowen looked over at Alexandra after the movie went off. She offered him a sweet little grin that made his heart flutter. How could this woman still make her feel just as strongly six years later?

“Are you tired? I can get the bed ready for you. I know you have to get up early in the morning. You’re welcome to sleep in one of my shirts.” The idea of her sleeping in one of his shirts had him discreetly adjusting himself when she turned her head.  

“I am exhausted. The drive was so long, and I was so hyped up for my interview that I feel like I’ve just crashed now.” He turned his head, so he was only a few inches from her now. The urge to lean in for a kiss her was so strong that it took everything he had not to.

“Well let’s get you to bed.” He stood up and offered her his hand. After the slightest hesitation on her part, she took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet.

He led her up the stairs, completely unashamed at how much liked how good her hand felt in his. He lead her past his own bedroom and moved down the hall until he came to another bedroom. He flipped on the light and moved to the side letting her join him in the room.

“I’ll be right back. I will bring you a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. I am sure they will be too big, but you can roll them up if you need to. Oh, and there is a bathroom through that door. Feel free to shower if you want.” He started to back out of the room biting on his own lip. He needed to remember he promised her he would be a gentleman tonight. No hitting on her!

“Rowen,” Alexandra called out once he had reached the threshold of the bedroom door.

“Yeah?” He stopped looking over at her where she stood by the bed.

“I just wanted to say thank you. For this. Tonight… well, let’s just say tonight has been perfect. I forgive you for leaving me.” She smirked at him and he nodded his head before leaving her alone in the guest room.  Her smirk stirring his wolf caused him to sigh. He always knew letting her go was a mistake, but having her here in his house tonight confirmed it more than ever.

After a few minutes, Rowen knocked on the guest room door and waited for her to answer before he came in. He handed the neatly folded clothes to her before rubbing the back of his neck. It was something he always did when he was looking for the right words to say.

“Is there anything else you need?” He didn’t want the night to end.

“A hug?” Her eyes grew wide, she was surprised at herself for even asking him that question.  It caused a crooked grin to pull at his lips as he nodded his head. He closed the gap between them opening his arms for her. Rowen was allowing her to make the first move.

“Come here, little siren.” He called to her. She stepped up in front of him letting her arms wrap around his middle. Her head barely came to his chest. He circled his arms around her holding her close breathing in her perfect scent.

“Thanks for forgiving me. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came back." He pressed his lips to the top of her head sweetly. He could be sweet when he wanted to. "I missed you, Lexie."