This wasn’t just desire anymore. Terran was a need so profound that it scared me to my core. Rooted deep around my heart until there was nothing left but the twined thorns dug in deep, leaving their lasting mark regardless of whether my desire to pry them off was there or not.
It wasn’t about the rush of having him beneath me, his voice breaking on my name as I claimed him, as intoxicating as that was.
No.
It had shifted, evolved into something far more dangerous.
We’d become intertwined, not just in those fleeting moments, but in the quiet spaces between. The places where connection settled and grew, binding us in a way that felt unshakable. It was the kind of thing poets wrote about, the kind of thing I’d only deemed for the lovesick.
I wasn’t a romantic. Far from it, actually. The idea of love, soulmates, fate—it had always felt like a poor concocted fantasy constructed by people who clung to it out of fear of being alone. But Terran made me want to. He made me want to believe in all those things I’d once dismissed as foolish.
He made me want to believe in intrinsic connections and destiny.
“Don’t fight it, Silas.”
My gaze snapped to Avery.
He shook his head at me. “I’m serious. I’veneverseen you like this. You’re happy, and that’s okay. It’s going to feel weird because you never let anyone in like that before. But whoeverthis guy is, it sounds like he can handle you just fine from what Blake was saying.”
A soft snort escaped me, unbidden, as a brief release of the tension slowly let up in my chest.
Blake.
Of course, he’d been at the head of the discussion. I had no doubt the second he and Marlow were shoved out my front door, they’d debriefed the entire way home, rattling off every single scenario that they could come up with to explain the stranger in my house, wearing my clothes.
Probably still were every night before bed, too.
Marlow grinned. “He’s got a good judge of character. So, if he approves, then we all do.”
My shoulders slowly eased. Such an easy thing to say. As if life were that simple.
They weren’t judging me. Neither of them were questioning me, either. They were supporting me unconditionally and without hesitation, just like they always had. Just like I’d never asked them to and they continued to no matter what kind of sourness I threw at them.
“What’s holding you back?” Avery asked.
Everything.
Nothing.
My own goddamn fear.
“I...”
“Look…” Marlow pressed both of his hands flat against the table, a serious look crossing over his features. “We’re not saying any of this is easy. Letting someone in gets messy and complicated.Trustus. But Avery’s right, Silas. I have never, in the entire twenty-five years I’ve known you, ever seen you this hung up on a guy before. You let him sleep over and wear your shit and live in your house. You’re trying to get him a lawyerto keep him from getting sued. Youcareabout him. Hell, you probably even lo?—”
Avery socked him hard in the arm. “Marlow.Let’s not freak him out just yet.”
He choked out a groan and clutched his bicep, withering in his seat instantly. “Oh, come on!”
“Anyway…” Avery fixed me with a look. “What he said ismostlytrue. Relationships can get messy but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth it. My favorite thing is when Brandon comes home from work and I get to finally spend the rest of our evening together making dinner and listening to him tell me about his day. Life doesn’t need to be so complicated all the time. The little things are what matter.”
“You’ve turned into such a housewife.” Marlow snickered. “What happened to the housekeeper?”
Avery hooked two fingers around Marlow’s ear lobe and tugged on it, hard enough to make him wince. “Maybe if you came over more, you’d know. Silas isn’t the only one avoiding my place.”
“I’m helping Blake prep for next season, sue me!”
“I don’t want to hear any excuses from you.”
