Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 231

Chapter 231-Careful With the Truth

Blake

Charlotte barely makes it through the front door before I feel the day catch up with her.

She goes quiet in the hallway, one hand still wrapped around mine, her coat half slipping from her shoulder. Her cheeks are pink from the cold, her eyes tired, and her soul is still tender.

Today gave her something, but it also took a lot out of her.

“You okay, pretty girl?” I ask softly.

“I think so.” She nods gently.

I help her out of her coat and guide her upstairs. “Get changed. I’ll make tea.”

By the time I get to our room with two mugs, Charlotte is already curled in the middle of the bed in one of my shirts and a pair of thick socks. She looks

small beneath the blankets, her hair loose over the pillow, her eyes half closed.

I set the mugs down and climb in beside her, and she rolls closer, tucking herself against my side.

Charlotte presses her cheek to my chest. “It hurts, Blake.”

“I know, baby.”

Her fingers draw slow shapes against my shirt as her breath tickles my neck. I kiss her hair.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur. “You don’t have to hold anything up. Not yourself./Not Charlie. Not the past. Not even me.”

A tiny laugh escapes her, tired and wet. “You’re pretty heavy.”

“Rude.”

“You’re huge.”

“Still pretty rude. I did all this growing just for you.”

She smiles against my chest, and that tiny smile feels like winning something I didn’t know I was fighting for

A few minutes later, she whispers, “Charlie looked different with her.”

I know exactly who she means, I saw it too.

“He did, I say,

Her voice goes softer. “I don’t think I’ve seen hine like that much”

Neither have 1: Charlie a good af hiding behind one God of standing between Charlotte and the windit with both fivis s

Chapter 231 Careful With the Truth

But tonight, he looked like a boy who had run out of armour.

Charlotte yawns, fighting sleep like she can argue her way out of exhaustion.

“Sleep, pretty girl,” I say.

“M’not tired.”

“Sure you’re not.”

She huffs at me, but her body softens against mine. Within minutes, her breathing evens out, and the bond between as quiets in my chest as her emotions

ease.

1 stay there with her for a while, one hand resting against her back, listening to her sleep.

Then headlights sweep briefly across the bedroom wall as a car pulls up outside.

A minute later, the front door opens.

Careful not to wake Charlotte, I slide out from under her and tuck the blanket around her shoulders. She makes a small sound in her sleep, searching for me, and I pause long enough to press a kiss to her forehead.

“I’ll be back,” I whisper.

Downstairs, the house is mostly dark except for the soft glow over the kitchen bench. Charlie stands near the sink with his jacket still on, staring at nothing

He looks up when I step in and stiffens a little, as if he has been caught doing something wrong.

Then he tries to smile, but it doesn’t work, not on me.

“How you doing?” I ask.

His jaw shifts. “I’m fine.”

I lean back against the bench and fold my arms. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Charlie lets out a rough breath, almost a laugh, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Guess that’s what this is about then,”

“I’m just checking on you.”

“And? I know there’s more to it than that.”

I don’t deny it. “I’m not here to tell you off.” I say.

“Could’ve fooled me.

“She’s human, Curlie

Be sighs deeply and icra hand over his face. “I know the

Chapter 231 Careful With the Truth

Do you? I ask gently. “Because liking a human isn’t simple for someone like us. She doesn’t know what we are. She doesn’t know what it means to get close to you, or what could happen if she does.”

His eyes flash with irritation. “You think I haven’t thought about that?”

“I think tonight was hard,” I say, keeping my voice low. “I think you were hurting, and she showed up when you needed someone. That can make things feel bigger, make things a little messy.”

“She showed up because she cares. Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s not.”

“Then what are you saying?”

I sigh, because there is no easy way to say it without sounding like a dick. “I’m saying you need to be careful. With her, with yourself, with the truth.”

Charlie looks away with a humourless laugh. “Right. Because I might have some soulmate out there waiting for me.”

“Charlie…”

“No, I get it.” His voice drops, and somehow that hits a little deeper than if he yelled. “I’m a wolf. She’s human. There might be some perfect girl out there fate picked for me, so until then I’m supposed to keep my distance and what? Sit around alone?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Isn’t it?” He looks back at me, and the rawness in his face makes my chest ache. “Everyone has someone, Blake. You have Lotty. Then has Emily. Your parents have each other. Even when things were awful, Lotty had me, and I had her. But now she has you, and I’m happy for her. I am. I want that for her.”

His voice cracks, and he presses his lips together like he hates himself for it.

“But where does that leave me?”

The kitchen goes still.

Charlie rubs a hand over his face, but now that the words are out, he can’t seem to stop them.

“Jess was there. I called, and she came. She knew something was wrong; she sat with me and didn’t make me explain every fucked up thing in my bail She cares about me. His eyes shine, though he blinks it back fast. “So why shouldn’t I want that? Why should I choose to be done fast became

migh

meet someone fate picked for me?”

I think of Charlotte upstairs, asleep in my shirt, finally safe enough to stop holding herself together for one night. I think of what I would have been if someone told me to stay away from her because loving her might get complicated.

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