A glance at Rhett showed his face had gone blank, his usual expressiveness shuttered behind a mask of studied neutrality. He nodded once, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.
“Makes sense.” His tone was flat. “No point staying in our place when you’ve got a whole apartment across the hall.”
The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees between us, an icy silence descending as we continued walking. The words replayed frantically in my mind, trying to understand what had caused such a dramatic shift. But it was obvious, wasn’t it? They thought I was ready to end whatever this thing between us was.
Except I wasn’t. Not even close. But how did I ask for what I needed after so many days of pretending it was all casual?
We reached our building and entered the lobby, the awkward silence stretching between us like an invisible wall. Troy pressed the elevator button, his movements stiff, deliberate. Rhett stared at the floor numbers above the doors, his jaw tight. We stepped inside when the doors opened, and I felt a rising panic as we ascended. Five floors had never seemed so quick before.
The elevator dinged, the doors sliding open on our floor. Troy moved immediately to their apartment, fishing keys from his pocket.
“I can grab my stuff tomorrow. It’s late, and I—”
Rhett made a distressed sound.
“No rush.” Troy’s voice was sharp. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Frozen between the two apartments, unable to cross the threshold into mine. The thought of stepping back into that empty space, of closing the door on what we’d built together, made my chest ache.
“Good night, Aims.” The resigned finality in Rhett’s tone jolted me into action. My hand was on my doorknob, the click of the lock and the creak of the hinges as they opened theirs. Oh fuck. I was fucking this up.
“Wait.” Rhett’s arm under my hand as he moved to follow Troy inside. “Just... wait.”
They both turned to me, guarded hope in their eyes.
“Do you...” My throat felt thick, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Do you want me to stay? To be your… whatever this is?”
The vulnerability was terrifying. Years spent building walls, protecting myself from this kind of exposure. But standing there, caught between two lives—the independent one I’d constructed and the messier, shared existence we’d created together—I was willing to risk it.
Troy’s expression softened, something raw and honest breaking through his careful composure. “Aimee,” he said, my name like a caress on his lips. “We don’t want you to leave. We never did.”
“But the stalker is caught. The danger is gone. You don’t need to protect me anymore.”
“You think that’s why we want you with us?” Rhett stepped closer. “Because we think you need protecting?”
“I don’t know. I just know I don’t want to go back to being alone. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
Troy moved forward, taking my hands in his. “Aimee, we care about you. Both of us. So much.”
“Love you.” Rhett’s voice was rough with emotion. “We love you, Aims.”
My breath caught. “But what about the two of you?” The question that had been lingering in the back of my mind for weeks finally found voice. “Where do I fit in that?”
Troy and Rhett exchanged a look, something intense passing between them—a silent communication honed by years of friendship and months of something deeper. Then Troy turned back to me, his dark eyes serious.
“We love each other, too,” he said quietly. “But there’s space in our hearts for you.”
“We’re better with you.” Rhett moved to stand beside Troy, his hand coming to rest on the small of my back. “Happier. Morecomplete. Hell, you brought us together, saw that there was more to our bromance than just friendship. You make us whole.”
Looking between them, these two men who had somehow worked their way past every defense I’d ever built. “I’m scared. After Garrett...”
“We’ll take it slow, if you need to,” Troy said with a small laugh. “But we’re all in. We want to figure it out together, if that’s what you want.”
“I want to.” I whispered it, stepping forward into their embrace, feeling their arms wrap around me, solid and secure. “I want to stay.”
Rhett pressed a kiss to my temple, thick with emotion. “We love you, Aims.”
“I love you, too. Both of you.”
