Not a chance in hell.
Finn clears his throat gently.“It’s nice in here.”
She gives him a small smile.“It’s small.”
“Small is cozy,” he says.“Kael’s house feels like a museum.Like we should whisper.”
Kael shoots him a look.Finn just grins.
Wren laughs, quiet and warm, and the sound slides under my skin and coils there.
Her eyes lift to mine.
Everything in me goes still.
For a moment, it’s just the two of us—her breath catching, my pulse kicking, the space between us thinning like a stretched wire trying to snap.She looks at me like she’s deciding something huge, something she’s been circling around all day.
And then she whispers, “Sit with me?”
I follow her without speaking.
The couch is small.Not enough room for the four of us in a polite row.Finn drops to her other side instantly, knee brushing hers.Kael stands behind the couch for a moment like he’s giving her the chance to change her mind before he gets too close.
I sit beside her.Close.Closer than I should.Close enough to smell the leftover sweetness of the pastry she ate earlier, the faint floral from her shampoo, the nervousness on her skin.
Close enough that when she exhales, I feel it against my wrist.
She pulls her legs up and tucks them beneath her.Finn mirrors the movement, twisting slightly so his knee touches her thigh.Kael lowers himself into the armchair across from us, legs spread slightly, elbows resting on his knees.He’s not detached—he’s giving her space to look at all three of us at once.
Her fingers curl against her knee.She licks her bottom lip, unconsciously.Finn’s breath stutters.Kael’s gaze sharpens.I feel something low and electric twist in my gut.
“We had fun today,” she says, voice soft.
Finn leans closer.“The most fun.”
Kael’s voice is quieter.“Seeing you smile was the point.”
She looks down like she’s not sure what to do with that.
I want to put a hand under her chin and make her look at us.Make her see that she can want things too.Make her know that she deserves softness as much as she deserves safety.
Her knee touches mine again.
She doesn’t pull away.
Finn shifts closer, shoulder brushing hers.“You seem...calm.Happier.”
“I am,” she whispers.Then, after a breath: “With you.”
My jaw tightens.Heat runs beneath my skin—slow, heavy, dangerous.
Not danger for her.
Danger for whatever tries to take this from her.
Kael’s voice is low.“You don’t have to hold anything in tonight.You can...let it drop.”
Her breath trembles.“I don’t even know what that means anymore.”
