“I know that,” Maddox hisses, but Nyx continues on, ignoring him.
“If she loves him, needs him, wants to fuck him right in front of us, that’s her goddamned prerogative. Doesn't mean you have to like it or accept it orfuck, even be okay with it. You can get up and leave and then have an adult conversation about yourboundaries with your girlfriend. But at the end of the day, it’s her body, her life, her choice. If she wants you in it, be happy. And if all of a sudden, you can’t, if you no longer want to share her the way you promised you would all those months ago, then you need tobow the fuck out.”
Maddox’s Adam's apple bobs as he stares up at Nyx, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say his eyes are glossing over from our friend's words. I swallow against a similar burn in my throat.
He’s right.
We can’t say she deserves the world and then be selective about what that world looks like.
It’s hers, and we’re just lucky to exist in it.
Months ago, we promised we were fine with sharing her and being in a complex relationship with Ella. We can’t pick and choose who’s in the dynamic, not really. If we’re with her, we’rewithher. Who else she chooses to give her giant heart to isn’t for us to decide.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Madd murmurs, his voice rough. Nyx releases his hold on his throat but doesn’t step away, letting the threat remain. Maddox rubs his neck. “I’m not leaving her, not now, not ever. She’s my life. My future. My happily ever after, something I never thought I deserved. I just—” He looks away, his shoulders sagging. “What if she picks him over us?”
The words are so quiet I can almost pretend I imagined them. But I know I didn’t because the pain in his eyes makes it all clear.
Being abandoned, being deemed unworthy, is Maddox’s biggest fear. Probably because of what our father’s done to him since he was a kid. The abuse, the games, the constant reminder that he wasn’t wanted. The cruel words he spits about Madd not beingenough.
It’s not true.
None of it.
But that doesn’t stop the scars from burning.
Nyx sighs and cups the back of Madd’s neck, forcing him to pay attention. “If for some reason, that wonderful woman in there…” He juts his chin to the car. “If she decides she no longer wants us, wantsyou, it’ll fucking hurt. It’ll kill you.” Madd tries to pull away, but Nyx doesn’t let him. “But shewon’t. I know she won’t. She loves you with every inhale she takes and needs you with every exhale. And if she loves and needs him the same way, it’s because he’s already found a way into her heart. Not instead of you, but next to you.”
He steps back, his jaw tensing and releasing repeatedly. “All of you.”
“And you,” I murmur, because I know that, too.
Ella may hate the big prick most of the time, but you can’t hate with so much fire, so much passion, and not love just as deeply.
Nyx shrugs off my words, but the tension from his body seems to fade. The air around us is thick, and I haven’t missed Stone’s silence. But he seems miles away, and I know that means he needs space to process.
“Besides,” Nyx grunts, his cruel smirk returning as he slaps Madd’s shoulder. “If she lets him into her little harem, you’ll get to see him naked eventually.” He waggles his brows as Madd pales. “Get to finally see thathot assyou’ve been fantasizing about.”
“I–I–” Madd stutters, his eyes going frantic like he’s looking for an escape. “It’s not like that.”
“Sure,” Nyx chuckles. “You can–”
“It’s okay if you like him,” I interrupt when I notice how much Nyx’s taunting is getting to my baby brother. The last thing I want is for him to be stifled in any way, including his sexuality. He’s already been through too much. I just want him to be happy. “Even if it’s as more than a friend.” I glance at Nyx and Stone. “The same applies to both of you.”
For some reason, it’s that particular statement that drags Stone from wherever he’d been lost to. He whirls on me, his already light skin paling even further. His head’s shaking so quickly, his hair slips from its top-knot.
“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” he hisses with a gag.
My brows furrow. “Never took you for homophobic, Stone,” I grit out, my stomach souring.
He jerks back. “What the fuck?” Our eyes stay locked, his wide and confused, mine narrowed in…I don’t even know what. Disappointment? “That’s not what I meant. Christ, Madd, you can like or fuck or love whoever you want. I don’t care. I support you, all of you, in all ways. You know that.Ijust don’t want to sleep with him.”
Maddox bristles, and I see this entire conversation rapidly swirling down the drain.
He steps up to Stone, posturing as irritation rolls off him in palpable waves. “Why not?” He grits out. “He not good enough for you, or what?”
“Well, that sounded oddly possessive,” Nyx murmurs. “Definitely defensive.”
Groaning, I roll my eyes heavenward.
