His Cursed Mate ✔️

Ch 57: The truth

So just a heads up, the majority of this chapter is dialect.

Ashley :

I hummed to myself as country music drifted from my phone in the background, while I flipped the final pancake. I  turned off the stove top and took out plates from the cupboard.
I heard a shuffle as the couch squeaked beneath Damian's weight. I turned to find Damian stretching, his eyes still closed. I heard his back pop and winced. The couch wasn't all that comfortable to sleep on. My eyes unconsciously traveled down his bare chest, taking in his broad shoulders and lean muscles with a slight peppering of hairs leading down to- I shook my head and made myself look away.
I was not supposed to be checking him out, I reprimanded myself, but my eyes traveled back to him like a moth drawn to a flame.
"Good morning." His voice throaty with sleep.
"Good morning." I turned quickly and grabbed a plate, piling it up with pancakes and eggs. "You're up late ."
I set the plate before him as he sat down before giving Maddy and Micah a quick kiss, smiles lighting up there oatmeal covered faces.
"Yeah sorry about that, I must have been more tired than I originally thought." He dug into the pancakes sending me a brief smile.
We sat in silence while we ate, like it was every morning. It was always awkward while we tried to make some civil conversation before giving up all together.
"I'll wash dishes." Damian said quickly when I stood up and I smiled gratefully.

I cleaned the twins up before sitting them in their bumbo chairs in front of the tv to watch an episode of paw patrol while I sat down. At almost eight months old the twins were a handful.
   They crawled all over the place and were even beginning to stand up a little. I had to keep an extra eye on them. Soon enough they would start walking and it pulled at my heartstrings, to see just how quickly they were growing up.
I could hear Damian in the kitchen clearing the table and washing dishes.
   I sighed as I leaned back against the couch, my eyes focused on the tv as little cartoon dogs ran around. It had been a little more than a month now since Damian's return and things had not become any easier.
   My fathers plan to get us to talk was backfiring big time. Damian had attempted to explain things a while back but I didn't want to hear it.
After all anything he said would never turn back time and stop him from hurting me.
  I spent as much time out of the house as possible, either at school or hanging out with the others and Grayson.
I hadn't told Grayson about the curse, seeing as I still couldn't quiet believe it myself.
  It was hard to believe that my life depended on me choosing a mate in less than five months. It was an absurd thought. I had pushed the curse to the back of my mind, refusing to let it dictate how I lived my life in the upcoming months.
  But every once in a while it would creep back up, reminding me that my life was on the line.

  "Hey Ashley." I looked up to find Damian standing on the other side of the couch.
"Yeah ?" I replied, making sure to look him in his eyes and not his bare chest.
  "Do you have anything planned today ?" He asked, a look of uncertainty in his eyes.
"No." I said slowly.
"I thought that maybe we could take M & M to the park." He said as I scrunched my nose up in distaste of the nickname Lance had given the twins.
"Sounds fine to me." I replied with a genuine smile "By the way, thank you for washing dishes."
"No problem." A faint blush appeared on his cheeks before he turned and walked into the bathroom.
It was the first time I had thanked him for anything. He woke up every morning and cooked breakfast for me and the kids, he washed dishes, helped pick up and he made a point to spend as much quality time with them. Even inviting me to come which I usually just refused.
It felt weird to see him trying so hard to be nice and civil towards me. When it came to Grayson, it was a whole other story. He didn't even attempt to hide his loathing of him. Grayson complained daily, hating the fact that I was living with Damian. In the beginning he had even implied that I should go move in with him but I shot the idea down immediately .
The twins were so fascinated by the tv that they didn't even look back when I sat up on the couch.
I heard light footfalls in the hallway.
"Hey what time did you -" my words stopped in my mouth as I turned to find Damian with a towel draped across his hips, water droplets running down his hair and onto his chest. I felt my mouth go dry and I forced myself to look up into his face. His lips were turned up slightly in a smirk, his eyes laughing at me.
"I forgot my clothes." He shrugged as he reached for his duffel bag and took out some tan shorts and a t grey "What were you saying ?"
I could hear the underlying amusement and it only managed to annoy me.
He had caught me checking him out, and he was being smug about it.