The Fae Book 3: Butcher and Raine

Chapter 20 (Butcher): I'm Going To Stay

I walked away from Raine as fast as I could after spilling my guts to her. I didn't understand this new me, didn't know why I kept blurting out things that I had no intention of saying and never even knew were thoughts in my head until I opened my mouth and the shit came pouring out.

But after a minute, I realized Raine wasn't beside me and turned around to see her standing still, her eyes on me. Wondering if maybe the baby was bothering her again, I walked back over to the woman.

"Problem?"

"No," she said.

Then it happened again: I blurted out shit that I never would have normally said. Or even thought.

"You got mad when I said you were round."

Her nose scrunched up like she was squinting at me as if she'd never seen me before.

"Are you for real? Yeah, I did get mad. Any pregnant woman would."

"Why, though?"

"Are you kidding me, Butcher?"

"No. You are round right where the baby is, but the roundness is good. It's not anything bad."

"I got mad because it sounded like you were making a crack about my weight."

"It wasn't a crack about anything. It was an observation that you're round with a baby, and there's nothing wrong with your weight. Has somebody been telling you otherwise? Because if they are, they're wrong. You're just as beautiful as you've always been."

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck was happening to me? 

I'd never noticed a woman's looks or even made a comment on them before in my life. I needed to get this shit under control, get my mouth under control before I said shit that couldn't be taken back. I wasn't used to this. My thoughts always centered on my club, my brothers, making deals, protecting my territory and killing people who needed it. Simple. Straightforward. Easy. Before Raine, I could have counted on three fingers the number of women I'd ever said more than a few words to, and now I was talking to her all the time. Needing to clear my head, I avoided looking at her.

"Tell Burr I'll be back in an hour," I told her abruptly, then walked away. An hour on my bike would clear my head and restore me to normal.

It had to.

When I returned to the beach, the three girls were already sitting in their beach chairs, and Burr and Hatch were standing behind their wives' chairs talking to each other. Hatch was playing with Harmony's hair, and Burr was rubbing the back of Daisy's neck. Raine was looking out at the water, a smile on her face and a hand on her belly.

Burr looked up and saw me. "You eat yet? Daisy brought a sandwich for you."

As he pointed to a cooler beside her chair, I almost left for another bike ride because who the hell thought about whether another person was hungry or not? I didn't understand the dynamics of these people, and I didn't like things I didn't understand.

"Not hungry," I said. "Ready to start?"

"But thanks so much, Daisy, for making me a sandwich," Raine's voice threw some manners my way. 

"Thanks," I said, not even wanting to give that much.

"Let's get to it," Hatch said.

"Shirt off," Harmony reminded him. He stripped it off, and just like they had this morning, Raine's eyes went to Hatch really quick.

I rubbed my chest.

"You, too, Oberon," Daisy said.

"As my queen commands," he teased her, and then he stripped off his shirt. Raine's eyes flicked to Burr.