He’d gotten lost in the moment. He’d taken one taste of Dav’s arousal on Rose’s tongue and thought a quick suck from the source would be hot.
Or he could tell the whole truth—that he was starting to wonder if maybe all this time, he was in love with his best friend and maybe he wasn’t only interested in the human they’d brought into their lives.
Fucking hells, Laz couldn’t get his mind to settle.
Dav had shifted smoothly back into his commanding self, but that was just who he was. Dav could ignore the lingering tension. At least until he’d given up first and gotten out of bed.
Dav was probably out there trying to figure out how to broach the awkwardness that would now linger between them.
One foolish mistake, even ifmistakewas the very last thing it was to Laz. But he could pretend. Maybe convince Sev to throw a punch like he used to when theywere kids, but ask him to aim for the part of Laz’s head where he could forget all his new way-beyond-friendship feelings.
Laz knew he needed to face this. Fix whatever rift he’d caused and ignore the weird pit in his chest that made him wonder if maybe Rosalind wasn’t the only missing piece of his soul. If maybe he hadn’t noticed it immediately because Dav had just always been slotted where he needed to be, and this was his heart finally catching up?—
No, no. He was getting ahead of himself again, but he couldn’t hide from the conversation forever. Feeling returned to his hand in pins and needles after unhooking it from underneath Rosalind, and she hummed and nestled back into the pillow.
Lazerath shrugged on a pair of loose pants, tucking the blanket over Rose’s shoulders before bracing himself for the worst.
Lazerath snuck out of the bedchamber, closing the door behind him before turning and freezing.
Davarox stood shirtless in the kitchen, though maybe slumped was a more appropriate description for his posture. His hands were braced on the counter, head hanging and braid barely contained in its tie. Behind him sat a tray of glazed scones—one of Lazerath’s favorite breakfasts, though with the distinct smell of Rosalind’s preference for spiced treats.
Oh, Laz hadreallyfucked it all up.
Gut-clenching fear ripped through him when Davarox cleared his throat. Dav’s eyes were still locked on the countertop as he spoke. “I need to tell you something.”
Laz’s world tipped. The ground didn’t feel solid at his feet, and he was dying a slow, miserable death in a zcoria pit in the following silence.
That was his best friend across the room, just a few feet between them, but Laz felt miles away. He’d lost something more precious than the air itself, and this was how he would bleed out. His heart would just stop pumping, and he’d collapse from the inside out.
But he could salvage this. He could fix it and get his best friend back. He would ignore the ridiculous notion that he might not be attracted to all males, but he was definitely attracted to the one standing in his apartment right now.
His life wouldn’t be exactly how he wanted it to be, but at least his best friend would still be in it.
“Dav,” Laz started, inching forward.
He swallowed.
Took a breath.
Tried to figure out how to pretend the line he’d crossed last night was simply a go-with-the-flow thing and he was sorry for failing to get consent.
But Dav’s head lifted, and that was devastating anguish in his eyes. The breath punched from Lazerath’s lungs.
Then shattered his entire being when Dav rasped, “I love you.”
Lazerath distantly felt his tail fall limp, feet rooted to the ground as he stared.
Dav’s shoulders were hiked up to his ears as his arms pressed into the counter, like he was forcinghimself to stand still. But alongside that anguish was a truth Laz could not deny.
“I love you,” Dav repeated, the words spilling from his very being. “I’velovedyou. Probably from the moment I met you. And I know I should have told you, but I just fucking—” His inhale was ragged, body trembling. “I fucking needed you in my life in any way I could have. But things are different with Rosalind, and that’s not me blaming anyone but myself for lying. For thinking… this could work.”
Davarox scrubbed a hand down his face, loosening more hair around his temples. “I’m dying inside, Laz. I’m fucking miserable because of my own shitty decisions and fear that I could lose the first thing I ever cared about in this world. But then last night…”
Lazerath’s tongue was stuck. He couldn’t open his fucking mouth in fear that he’d vomit.
Dav choked on a sob. “Last night, after you… I’m losing two things, now. I tried shoving it all down and fucking other demons and going to that place thinking that’s all I needed, but it’s not. I love you, and I can’t fucking tear that piece out of me or pretend it doesn’t exist anymore.” His eyes squeezed shut, a tear rolling down his cheek as he tried to catch his breath. “I fucking love you, Laz, and I can’t pretend otherwise.”
Dav pressed a palm to his mouth, squeezing hard enough to indent his cheeks before throwing that hand behind him. “Those are… my apology. Tell her… I don’t know. Something. Just know I’m so fucking sorry for dragging it along this far. I know you’ll care for her where I fucked up.”
