My Cheating Mate (Emma and Jeremy) novel Chapter 66

Chapter 66

“And?”

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“And I can’t keep doing that. Can’t keep destroying myself and calling it protection.” set down my fork. “So I’m going to talk to my father about delegating more of the intelligence work. About only taking point on missions I’m actually needed for. About letting the pack handle this as a pack instead of one–man crusade.”

“Good.” She sipped her coffee. “What about therapy? Can you commit to showing up ready to actually engage?”

“Yes. I’ll even do the homework Dr. Chen assigns instead of ignoring it.”

“The journal exercises?”

“Those too.” I paused. “I know I’ve been going through the motions. Showing up but not really being present. That changes now.”

a

Emma studied me for a long moment. “What’s different? Why

”

“Because I slept for twenty hours and woke up to you sitting on my bed looking terrified that I might be dead,” I said honestly. ” Because you came to check on me even though you have every reason to let me self–destruct. Because you still care, and I’ve been too buried in guilt to see it.”

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“I do still care,” she confirmed quietly. “But Jeremy, I meant what I said yesterday. I can’t watch you destroy yourself. If you go back to the hunt and fall into those same patterns-

“I won’t,” I interrupted. “I promise, Emma. I’m done killing myself slowly. Done using guilt as a reason to avoid actually living.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “Then we move forward. One day at a time. One therapy session at a time. With you actually present and doing the work.”

“One day at a time,” I agreed.

We sat in comfortable silence while I finished eating. It felt normal, almost. Like the early days of our mating before everything

went wrong.

“Emma?” I said after a while. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you come? Really? You could have just called my father, let him check on me. But you came yourself.”

She was quiet for a moment, her hands wrapped around her coffee mug. “Because despite everything—the betrayal, the hurt, the months of therapy–I still love you. And when someone you love doesn’t answer their phone for twelve hours after promising to rest, you go make sure they’re not dead in a ditch somewhere.”

“Even though I don’t deserve it?”

“Stop measuring everything by what you deserve.” Her voice was gentle but firm. “Start measuring it by what you need to heal. And Jeremy, you need people who care about you to actually check in. To make sure you’re okay. To remind you that you’re worth taking care of.”

“Thank you,” I said, my voice rough with emotion. “For reminding me. For caring enough to break into my house.”

“I didn’t break in. I have a key.” She pulled a familiar keychain from her pocket. “Never gave it back after I left. Kept meaning to,

but-

“But?”

“But some part of me wasn’t ready to let go completely.” She set the key on the table. “I should probably return it now. Since I’m not living here anymore.”

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I looked at the key–small, ordinary, but it felt like so much more. A symbol of what we’d had, what we’d lost, what we might be building again.

“Keep it,” I heard myself say, “Please. Not because I expect you to move back in or anything like that. But because–” I paused, trying to find the right words. “Because I want you to know you’re always welcome here. That this was your home first, before I ruined it.”

Emma’s eyes glistened with tears. “Jeremy-

“I mean it. Keep the key. Use it whenever you need to. Even if it’s just to check that I’m not being an idiot about self–care.”

She laughed wetly, picking up the key and putting it back in her pocket. “Okay. I’ll keep it. But only because someone needs to make sure you’re eating and sleeping like a normal person.”

“Deal.”

We smiled at each other across the table, and for the first time in months, it felt like maybe just maybe we were going to be okay.

Not perfect. Not fixed. But okay.

And right now, okay was more than enough.

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