But the closer he got, the more I needed—needed to be touched, needed them to prove they werereal.But I didn’t know how to ask for it.
Icouldn’t.
Jay took a half-step forward, watching me like he was waiting for something. For a cue. Forpermission.
But Roan stopped him. “Not yet.”
Jay blinked, but nodded slowly, his breath coming in quiet pulls. He was calm, calm in a way Iwanted, and I hated the way it made my chest ache.
“Wren,” he said, quieter now, the edge gone from his voice. “You’re not alone.”
It was too much.
I couldn’t take it. Not yet.
The flood of emotion, the hunger twisting in my gut, the ache between my legs—it was all too much.
“I can’t…” I broke off, tears I didn’t know I was holding back slipping down my face.
“I can’t do this.”
Rhett leaned against the doorframe, his eyes softening as he watched me, and something shifted in his expression—understanding. He didn’t push this time. Neither did Roan.
But I could feel it. Thewant. The need.
All of them, waiting. Watching me.
And I wanted to scream.
But what would I scream for?
I was burning, and they were here. And yet, I couldn’t have them. Not like this. Not without breaking something inside me.
Roan spoke again, his voice soft but insistent.
“Wren,” he murmured, “we’ll wait. When you're ready, we’re here. But only when you're ready.”
I closed my eyes, and it felt like everything in meunraveledat once.
I stumbled back.
Away from the door. Away from them.
My legs didn’t want to work right. My knees were soft, my spine a weak reed of heat and panic and too muchneed. My shoulder hit the wall and I followed it down until I was crouched on the hardwood floor, my cheek pressed to the cool paneling near the baseboard.
It helped.
Not enough.
They didn’t come after me.
Some part of me noticed that.Registeredit.
They stayed outside. Even with the door cracked. Even with the scent of my heat pouring into the air between us like a siren’s call. Every breath I took filled my lungs with the three of them, and it was so potent, so thick I couldtastethem.
Yet they still. Didn’t. Move.
No footsteps. No door creaking open farther.
