“Please,” I repeated softly.
Something shifted in his expression. A crack in that controlled facade. His thumb brushed against my knuckles, just once, so briefly that I might have imagined it. “Okay.”
Pure elation shot through me. Without thinking, I rose up on my toes and kissed his cheek.
Everything stopped.
He went still. I went still. I swear, even the damn oxygen particles in the evening air went still. For one breathless moment, with my face still inches from his, we became lost in each other’s eyes, as if that kiss to the cheek was the first contact we’d ever shared.
But it wasn’t. Yet every one of our moments, our touches, carried that first-feeling intensity. Case in point: he looked like he wanted to reach up and cup my cheek, and when his gaze drifted down to my lips, hunger flickered there.
Spoiler alert: I wanted him to kiss me.
I could see the decision forming in those storm-gray depths. Could tell the exact moment he tilted his head and began to leancloser. My lips parted instinctively, my breath catching as I waited for?—
“Jesus Christ, get a room!” Axel’s voice cut through the moment like a chain saw through silk. But when I looked at him, he smirked and offered me a wink that instantly put me at ease. “Or at least charge admission. Some of us could use the entertainment.”
Ryker stepped back. “You know what your problem is, Axel? You talk.”
“That’s not a problem; that’s a gift. Ask Dakota.”
“I plead the Fifth,” Dakota said, approaching us with careful steps. She was the first to reach me, the first to wrap her arms around me in a fierce hug. I wasn’t what you’d call a hugger—touching had never been my love language—but I guess trauma had a way of changing your relationship with comfort.
She pulled back, hands steady on my shoulders while everyone else watched. “We’ve got you,” she said, voice fierce with loyalty. “No matter what happens, we’ve got you.”
That lump in my throat grew. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve this kind of devotion.
“If you want us to leave,” Axel said, slapping on his usual smirk, “we can always wait in the car while you and Ryker finish your little Hallmark moment.”
“It’s called having feelings, Axel,” Ryker shot back. “You should try it sometime.”
“I have feelings. Hungry. Horny. Tired. See? Three feelings right there.”
Jace actually laughed at that, a rare sound from the normally stoic billionaire. “Those aren’t feelings; those are biological functions.”
“You sound like Blake. He probably categorizes emotions by their neurotransmitter pathways,” Axel retorted.
“He absolutely does,” Tessa confirmed, grinning. “He made me a pie chart once.”
“Whereis he?” I asked.
“Coming over when his ER shift is done,” Tessa assured me.
Ryker’s hand found the small of my back as we moved toward the door, and then he leaned close, his breath warm against my ear. “Does Blake know about the group home? I don’t want to accidentally mention something private.”
God, this man. In the middle of all this chaos, he was still making sure to protect what mattered to me.
“He knows,” I said. Blake had offered to help, naturally, but this was mine to build, mine to protect.
As we navigated toward the front door, Jace was still cataloging every detail of my street: the run-down houses, broken chain-link fences, scattered litter.
“It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood,” I clarified, heat creeping up my neck.
But when I looked at Jace, I didn’t see judgment. If anything, his expression held curiosity and maybe a hint of protectiveness that made me like him even more.
“Come on.” Dakota linked her arm through mine. “Let’s go inside. We can order pizza and drink some wine. You need to eat something.”
“We ate already,” I said. “But the wine sounds lovely.”
