"So are you," Nacho points out. "That's why it works."
Sergio leans back in his chair, studying me. "You don't have to decide anything tonight, Jessica. About Friday. About us. About any of it. Just know that whatever you choose, we're here."
"All of us," Pedro adds.
"Even if you decide this is too much," Nacho says quietly. "Even if you need space or time or want to pump the brakes. We're not going anywhere."
Carlos's hand tightens on my thigh. "We've waited six years. We can wait longer if that's what you need."
I look around the table at these four men who somehow became mine without me noticing.
And I realize I don't want to wait.
Don't want space or time or to pump the brakes.
I want this. Want them. Want the whole messy, complicated, impossible thing.
"I don't need time," I say. "I need a shower. And maybe some ice cream."
"Turtleneck," Pedro suggests.
"It's seventy degrees outside."
"Scarf?"
"In spring?"
"Own it," Carlos says. "Tell everyone you're dating four alphas and living your best life."
“They’ll think I’m a whore.”
"We'll protect you," Nacho promises.
Sergio just smiles. "Shower's upstairs. Ice cream's in the freezer. And Jessica?"
"Yeah?"
"Welcome home."
The words crack something open in my chest.
Home.
This is home.
Not the house I grew up in. Not the apartment I shared with Callum. Not any specific place.
This. These people. This feeling of being exactly where I'm supposed to be.
I push back from the table, suddenly needing to move before I start crying. "Ice cream. I'm getting ice cream. Anyone else want some?"
Three hands go up.
"Of course you do." I head for the freezer, and Carlos follows, because apparently we're one of those couples now. The kind that can't be separated for more than five minutes.
I don't hate it.
He crowds me against the counter while I dig through the freezer, his body warm against my back, his breath on my neck.
