We round the corner toward the block, the buzz of the yard fading behind us. I can’t keep it inside any longer. “Look, I know I sound paranoid. But let’s be honest with ourselves—what are we even doing?” I say, voice coming out rougher than I meant. “This isn’t just about sex anymore.”
Nico glances over, something uncertain in his eyes. Jace stiffens, lips pressed tight.
I keep going, needing them to hear it. “We’re all in deep. We care about her. It’s obvious—hell, you saw us last night, any of us would’ve done anything for her. Doesn’t that scare you? That we’d risk everything for someone we barely knew a year ago?”
Jace exhales, his breath sharp in the cool air. “It scares the shit out of me. But it’s not something I can turn off.”
Nico gives a small laugh, humorless. “Yeah, well, maybe that’s the problem. Maybe she’s got all three of us wrapped around her finger.”
I shake my head, the weight of it pressing down on me. “I just don’t want us to forget who we are. Or how easy it is to get burned if we’re wrong about her.”
We fall silent, walking the last stretch to the block together. None of us wants to admit how deep this goes, or how little control we really have anymore.
As the doors slide open, I look at them both, voice quieter now. “We better figure this out, before she becomes the only thing that matters.”
19
CARRIE
Idon’t sleep. I barely even close my eyes. Every time I do, I’m back in the library—hands on my skin, mouths on my throat, all three of them inside me in some way, making me feel seen and needed and wanted like I never have before. I try to quiet my mind, but the memories won’t fade. They just get louder.
The room at the motel is stifling. I stare at the water stains on the ceiling, heart pounding, my body still aching with aftershocks from what we did. But it’s not just the sex, as mind-blowing as it was. It’s the way they looked at me after, the way JC held my face like I was something fragile and precious, the way Levi stroked my hair, the way Nico kissed my wrist as if it was a promise. I’m falling for them. Not just one. All three.
My chest aches with the weight of it. I want to tell them everything, but I can’t even bring myself to pick up the phone. I wish I could tell them I’m pregnant. That it’s real, that there’s something growing inside me—a part of them, whoever the father is. I don’t care which one. I don’t want to know. I just want it to be theirs. All of theirs.
The envelope from the clinic sits on the bedside table, the doctor’s report inside. I read it twice, making sure I’m not crazy.The dates line up exactly. There’s no way this is Jinn’s kid. He’d started pulling away weeks before everything exploded. We hadn’t had sex in almost a month—he was always “tired,” “busy,” or “out.” Now I know the truth. He was already sleeping with my sister, and I was too stupid to see it.
The test result is clear. I got pregnant the first time I was with the guys—right when everything changed, when I let myself have something good for once, even if it was messy and wild and made no sense. I took another test tonight just to be sure, watching the two lines show up instantly. No doubt left.
I run my hand over my stomach, flat still but not for long. I should feel panic, but all I feel is stubborn relief. I want this baby. I want it to be theirs. I don’t care who the father is as long as it’s one of them. I don’t need a DNA test or a spreadsheet. I just want them to know, somehow, that this is ours, not Jinn’s. He lost that right when he started sneaking around behind my back.
I wish I had the guts to tell them, to just get it out in the open. But I’m not sure how they’ll take it, if they’ll think it’s another manipulation of mine.
I’m just about to drift off, exhaustion finally starting to win, when there’s a hard, sudden knock at the door. My eyes fly open. For a second, I think I’m dreaming. The knock comes again, sharper this time.
I sit up, heart pounding. It’s nearly midnight. No one decent comes to a motel at this hour. I slip out of bed, pad over to the door, and peek through the cracked blinds.
Rodriguez.
My stomach drops. Panic prickles at the back of my neck. What is he doing here?
I unlock the chain but don’t open the door all the way. “What are you doing here? It’s pretty late.”
He stands there in his usual suit, tie loosened, eyes scanning the parking lot behind me. “Aren’t you going to invite me inside, Carrie?”
Shit. My mind goes blank for a second. The doctor’s report is sitting right on the nightstand, out in plain sight. I need to hide it, but I can’t move without making it obvious.
“I—I wasn’t expecting anyone,” I stammer, blocking the door with my body.
He smiles, cold and patient. “You going to invite me in, or do we have to do this out here in front of your neighbors?”
I force a weak smile and step back. “Fine, come in. But I wasn’t really—uh—dressed for visitors.”
Rodriguez steps inside, eyes sweeping over the messy bed, the pile of clothes on the chair, the nightstand. My heart thuds so loud I’m sure he can hear it. I edge sideways, trying to slide the report under a magazine without being obvious.
He notices. Of course he does. “Everything alright, Carrie? You seem jumpy.”
“I just—was about to go to sleep. Long day. Why are you really here, Rodriguez?”
