Less broken.
We move together. Slow at first. Then faster. Harder.
She wraps her legs around my waist and pulls me deeper.
I bury my face in her neck and breathe her in.
“Jax,” she whispers. “Jax, I—”
I fuck her slowly, watching the pleasure in her face every time my hips reach hers. “I know,” I tell her. “I know.”
We finish together. Shaking. Holding onto each other like we might disappear if we let go.
After, we lie tangled in my sheets. Her head on my chest, and my arm around her.
Neither of us speaks.
What is there to say?
That I’m still figuring this out? That I don’t know if I can do this long term? That watching her with Zephyr and Callum still makes me want to punch them?
Or that I can’t imagine my life without her in it? That seeing her with Zinnia today made my heart squeeze? That I don’t want to walk away again even if it kills me?
I don’t say any of it.
Instead, I just hold her and feel her breathing even out as she drifts off.
And I lie there staring at the ceiling, thinking about the impossible situation I’m in.
I hate knowing that I have to share her. I hate that Zephyr and Callum know exactly what we’re doing because they’re not with her right now. I hate that I slept with her twice now, knowing this is going to destroy me.
But the alternative—being without her—is worse.
So I hold her tighter.
I know I’ll stay.
Because leaving hurt more than staying ever could.
Chapter Forty-Eight: Tigerlily
The arena is packed.
I can feel the energy humming through the crowd as Zinnia and I find our seats. She’s bouncing on her toes, eyes wide, taking in everything at once.
“This is so cool,” she breathes.
I look around, seeing it through her eyes. “It really is.”
“Do you come to their games a lot?” she asks.
I chuckle. “The only one I’ve gone to is the one that Dad was upset about.”
“Really?”
I nod, feeling my heart race at the number of people in the stands. It’s no wonder Jax doesn’t want to be in a four-way relationship. We would be ridiculed.
We’re settling into our seats when I hear my name. “Tigerlily! Lily!”
