A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 345

ALEXANDER

The hot water beat steadily against my shoulders.

For a moment, it was the only place where my mind could finally slow down.

Training, patrol reports, council matters, board meetings–it all faded beneath the sound of running water.

I sighed, letting the tension ease from my muscles.

The bathroom door clicked open.

I turned slightly just as the shower curtain moved.

Faye stepped inside.

For a second, I simply stared at her, taking her in.

Water immediately soaked the loose strands of her hair, darkening them as they clung to her shoulders.

She looked completely unbothered by my surprise, a small, playful smile tugging at her lips.

“Well,” I said slowly, blinking water from my eyes, “this is unexpected.”

Faye laughed softly.

It was a quiet sound, warm and familiar.

She reached up casually and smoothed her hair back.

“It’s been a while,” she said.

That was true.

Too long, actually.

Between pack responsibilities, the company, and everything happening lately, moments like this had

quietly disappeared.

Faye stepped closer, reaching for the soap resting on the small shelf.

“Turn around,” she said lightly.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

Her smile widened.

“Relax,” she teased. “I’m just taking care of you tonight.”

I studied her for a moment before finally shaking my head with a quiet chuckle.

“Bossy tonight, aren’t you?”

“Just turn around, sir.”

There was no real resistance left in me.

I did as she asked.

Her hands were warm against my back as she worked the soap across my shoulders, slow, deliberate movements easing the tension I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying all day.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

There was something peaceful about the quiet–about the way her hands moved across my skin, about the closeness that didn’t require words.

Eventually, I asked casually, my voice low beneath the sound of the water.

Her hands slid up toward my neck, fingers massaging lightly.

“So,” I said, “to what do I owe this special treatment?”

Her hands paused briefly before she laughed under her breath.

A quiet, amused sound.

She leaned forward slightly, her chin brushing my shoulder.

“Is it so strange,” she murmured, “that I might miss my fiancé?”

The word lingered between us.

Fiancé.

I turned then, slowly, until I was facing her.

Water slid down her face and neck, her hair damp around her shoulders as she looked up at me.

Then I said, almost lightly, “You know… I’d rather be your husband.”

The teasing tone didn’t quite hide the truth behind it.

Faye didn’t answer.

That wasn’t new.

Every time the subject of marriage came up, she had a way of letting the moment drift past without really addressing it.

At first, I’d thought she simply needed time.

Now…

Now I wasn’t so sure.

A faint unease settled in my chest.

Maybe she had said yes because she thought it was what I wanted to hear.

Maybe she didn’t want to hurt me.

Maybe she wasn’t ready to say no.

Faye’s eyes searched mine then, deep and thoughtful.

For a second, I thought she might finally say something.

Instead, she stepped closer.

Her hand slid gently along my neck as she leaned up and kissed me.

Softly… slowly.

Like she was trying to answer without words.

I let myself respond at first, my hand settling lightly at her waist as the kiss deepened.

But the thought lingering in my mind refused to disappear.

It sat there, heavy and quiet.

Unanswered.

After a moment, I pulled back slightly.

Faye’s brows knitted just a little in confusion.

I gave her a small smile.

Then I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Before she could say anything, I stepped back and reached for the shower handle.

The water continued running as I stepped out of the stall.

I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my waist.

I didn’t look back.

I ran a hand through my damp hair and walked toward the bathroom door.

FAYE

The sound of the bathroom door closing lingered.

For a moment, I just stood there.

The water kept running over me, warm and steady, but the space felt different now.

Quieter.

Empty in a way that had nothing to do with the room itself.

I stared at the place where Alexander had been standing, my chest tightening slowly as everything caught up with me.

That hadn’t gone the way I wanted.

I exhaled softly, tilting my head back as the water slid over my face.

Of course it hadn’t.

The moment he said it-

“I’d rather be your husband.”

I felt it.

Not the teasing part.

The truth underneath it.

Alexander didn’t say things like that carelessly. Even when he dressed them up lightly, there was always

something real beneath it.

And I had known that.

I had felt it in the way he looked at me.

In the way his voice had softened just a little.

And what did I do?

I swallowed,

I didn’t answer him.

I kissed him instead.

A quiet, easy escape.

Because it was easier to do that than to say what I was actually thinking.

Or maybe…

What I wasn’t ready to say.

I let out a slow breath, my fingers curling slightly at my sides as the weight of it settled in properly.

He noticed.

That small pause.

That moment where I could have said something and didn’t.

He felt it.

And instead of pushing, instead of asking-

He stepped back.

Kissed my forehead. That made it worse.

And left.

My chest tightened faintly.

That part of my life had already settled into something steady.

But becoming his wife…

That changed something else.

It changed me.

It made me more than just Faye.

It made me Faye Blackwell.

His.

Officially. Completely. In a way that couldn’t be undone or stepped back from easily.

It tied me to his life–not just in feeling, not just in bond–but in something permanent.

And that kind of commitment… especially with so much going on in our lives…

I let out a quiet breath.

It was scary.

Not because I didn’t want him.

But because I did.

Because I knew exactly what it meant.

And right now… I wasn’t there yet.

Not completely.

My fingers curled slightly again.

But none of that was what he heard.

All he got was silence.

And silence could sound like a lot of things.

Doubt.

Regret.

My chest tightened again.

He probably thought-

No.

I knew what he thought.

I had seen it.

That brief flicker in his eyes before he hid it.

He must have thought, “Maybe she doesn’t really want this.”

“Maybe she only said yes because she felt she had to.”

I swallowed.

That wasn’t true.

But I hadn’t given him anything to prove otherwise either.

I should have said something.

Anything.

Even if it wasn’t perfect.

Even if it wasn’t everything.

Just… something.

The water was starting to cool slightly, but I didn’t reach to adjust it.

I just stood there, letting the quiet settle around me again.

He had walked away calmly.

But that didn’t mean it hadn’t affected him.

Alexander didn’t push.

He gave space.

Even when it cost him something.

And right now…

It had.

I could still go after him.

Still explain.

But I knew the moment I stepped out there, the conversation would change.

It wouldn’t be light anymore.

It wouldn’t be something I could soften with a smile or avoid with a kiss.

And I wasn’t ready to give him the kind of answer he deserved.

Not yet.

So I stayed where I was.