“Lucky me.”
“Luckyus,” he said, not quite teasing.
I stilled. The silence stretched just long enough for my mind to start running ahead, so I asked the next thing that came to me. “Where’s Rhett?”
“Out,” Jay replied, his tone still gentle. “He went for more supplies.”
Something pinched in my chest. Not sharp. But deep. “Oh.”
Jay must’ve heard it whatever leaked into that single syllable, because he set the spoon down gently and met my gaze. Calm. Direct. Unyielding.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “He’s coming back.”
I looked away, but only briefly. His voice didn’t leave me room to argue.
“You’re not alone, Wren. None of us are leaving you. We just need things like medical supplies, more water, food. He’s handling it.”
I nodded slowly. I believed him. Mostly. But the ache didn’t leave. Not entirely.
Jay didn’t press.
When I finally gave a low exhale and mumbled, “I’m full,” he nodded and set the container aside. Then, predictably, he held the bottle of water up again.
“More.”
I gave him a weak look. “My bladder already hates me.”
A faint grin tugged at his mouth. “You’ll live.”
“As long as Roan’s got me hostage in this blanket trap, I’d rather not test the limits.”
Chuckling under his breath, Jay recapped the bottle and nodded. “Fair enough.”
The warmth from the food curled low in my belly, not in the same place as the heat, but adjacent to it, like a reminder that I was a bodyanda mind. Still whole. Still me.
Jay didn’t move right away. Just sat with me. Watched me. That patient silence of his returned—but now, it felt heavier. Like it was no longer waiting for my needs, but for somethingelse.
Finally, he asked, “Will you tell me?” His voice didn’t change. Still soft. Still even. “Why the suppressants? The secrets? All of it?”
I blinked.
Slowly, I turned toward him again.
He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t pushing. But the focus in his eyes sharpened like a blade slipping free of its sheath—so quiet I almost didn’t feel it until it was already there. Laid bare between us.
“You don’t have to lie,” he added. “You don’t even have to explain everything right now. But I want to know. Ineedto know.”
Gods, there was nowhere to hide from that. He didn’t flinch or look away. He just waited.
The longer I stared back, the more impossible it became to pretend I wasn’t already unraveling. I couldn’t answer him immediately, even if I’d wanted to just confess it all. The words, the experience,my lifeall backed up inside of me.
The question hung in the air between us all soft and almost ephemeral, yet heavy like a shackle. Jay didn’t move, didn’t speak again. He didn’tneedto. His stillness was the question’s echo, waiting for me to fill it.
My tongue felt thick, my throat tight. The warmth of the food in my stomach soured with nerves.
“Why the suppressants,” I repeated softly, mostly to buy myself time.
He didn’t nod, didn’t press.
