“You all treat me like I’m gonna pass out at any moment,” I muttered.
“You did last night,” Doc said.
“That was one time.”
Doc raised an eyebrow. “Once is enough.”
Before I could argue, Smoke dropped a tennis ball in at my feet.
“Not now Smoke,” I told him gently.
Smoke’s tail wagged harder.
“Throw it,” Ranger said without looking up. “He won’t leave you alone otherwise.”
I tossed it down the hall, and Smoke bolted after it so fast his paws slid across the floor. Brutus looked at him, then back at his pot.
“If that damn dog knocks into me and make me spill my chili…”
“No one wants your chili anyway,” I said.
Brutus glared at me. “You want lunch or not?”
“Not if it’s whatever’s in that pot.”
He pointed the spoon at me like a threat. “You’re banned from eating it.”
Doc snorted. “Lucky girl.”
The kitchen settled into its usual chaos. The guys bickering over nothing, cabinets slamming, a smoke alarm chirping like it had a personal vendetta. No one rushed to fix it. No one needed to.
I found myself tracking everyone without meaning to.
Brutus grumbling at Ranger while making sure he stayed between me and the back door. Ranger sharpening blades like he wasn’t listening, even though I knew he caught every shift in the room. Doc hovering just close enough that if my breathing hitched, he’d be on me in two steps.
And Wrecker.
He leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, gaze steady and unblinking. Not crowding. Not hovering. Just there.
My shoulders loosened before I noticed they’d been tight.
Safe.
That’s what he felt like. Even with everything that had happened, even with my nerves burned raw.
He was safe.
I didn’t question it. Didn’t pick at the edges of that feeling to see what it was made of.
Wrecker watched everything. Everyone knew that. He tracked movement the way other people tracked conversation. I’d caught him checking exits more times than I could count, adjusting his position without thinking, placing himself between me and open space like it was instinct.
Surprisingly, it didn’t feel controlling.
It felt comforting.
Like if I stayed close enough to him, nothing bad could reach me.
I told myself that was strength. His strength. And maybe, by proximity, some of it could rub off on me.
