Heavy. Complete. Overwhelming relief that I’m truly not completely alone.
I hold Jax’s hand in the car. He brings it to his lips and kisses the back of my hand.
And all I feel is calmness.
Not happiness. Not joy. Not peace.
Just relief that I survived. That I’m still here. That I finally told someone the truth. And not just one person but three.
And they didn’t leave.
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Tigerlily
The trucks are finally unloaded.
Both of them sit in the driveway with their beds empty, tailgates still down. My things are scattered across Jax and Zephyr’s living room in bags and piles that don’t quite make sense yet.
Reality hits me all at once.
I’m actually living here now.
Not visiting. Not staying temporarily until I figure things out.
I. Am. Living here. With three hockey players who’ve somehow become the most important people in my life.
I stand in the doorway staring at everything I own spread across their floor, and my chest tightens with something between relief and terror.
“You okay?” Jax asks from behind me.
I nod without turning around. “Kind of, but I think I need my meds.”
Jax walks straight to the bag on the kitchen counter, grabs me the right amount and hands them to me with his flask of water. And then I sit on the couch.
“While you’re waiting for those to kick in,” Zephyr says while holding himself against the armrest, “the bathroom’s stocked. We made space for your stuff underneath the cabinet. There are two shelves. And kitchen cabinets,” Zephyr walks over to the kitchen and shows me. “This one’s yours. And this drawer for whatever you need.”
Empty space. Cleared out. Ready.
My throat feels tight.
Callum appears from the hallway carrying one of my boxes. “Where do you want your underwear drawer, Tiger? I’m thinking somewhere easily accessible for all of us.”
“Callum,” Jax warns as I start blushing.
He grins at me. “Seriously, top drawer okay?”
I nod.
“Guest room,” Jax says firmly. “She gets the dresser in there.”
I stand up, wincing in pain, following Callum to my new bedroom. “I should probably supervise him.”
We walk down the hall. Callum sets the box on the bed and opens the top drawer of the dresser.
It’s empty.
So is the second drawer. And the third.
“When did they...” I start, then stop.
