Fingers sank into my hair and tugged my head straight back so I was looking up at Brooks. “You are a brat, aren’t you?”
“A little.”
“Little my ass.”
I gasped, giving him a look. “You named your ass Little? You should be nicer. At least name it Juicy.”
He spun my stool so I was trapped between his legs, and he gave me plenty of time to stop him. I didn’t.
Brooks kissed me slowly, drawing it out until I was gasping for breath and wishing I didn’t need it so I could keep kissing him. “I amgoing to enjoy fucking that brattiness out of you, baby. So you can start all over again.”
I sucked in a breath, nerves rising.
He noticed immediately. “What’s wrong?”
Words evaporated, and I shook my head. But I wrapped my arms around him, trying to show that I wasn’t pulling away. “Words,” I managed, and shook my head once more.
Slowly, he wrapped himself around me. “You have trouble with words sometimes?”
I nodded into his shirt.
“Take your time,” he whispered. “None of us mind.”
Right. With Bastian having trouble with his voice, issues with speaking weren’t unfamiliar to them. And if we were really going to try this, I needed to tell them the truth.
“I—” I breathed slowly. “I don’t usually do things like this. I want it. So much that it scares me, because what if it doesn’t work? What if it all falls apart?”
Brooks stroked his hand up and down my spine. “That’s not going to happen.”
“How do you know?”
He kissed my neck, my cheek, and then my temple as he straightened to look at me. “I don’t. But I’m choosing to believe that it won’t.” Then he leaned in and whispered. “We’ll talk about everything you need to. Every fear and hesitation. Go get your list, baby, so we can finally tell you everything we want.”
“Now?”
“You want to wait?”
No. No, I didn’t. “Be right back.”
My suitcases sat neatly in the corner of the room, which now had a very large bed, made up with emerald green bedding. No other furniture, but at least I wouldn’t be sleeping on the floor.
My own brain rolled her eyes because I knew I would have ended up in one of their beds regardless of whether I had my own. But it was nice to have the option.
My phone chimed as I returned to the living room. The kitchen branched away from the living room. Not completely open like so many modern apartments, but it was still spacious and airy. They were all scattered on various seats, Theo still in the kitchen.
“That text is all our lists,” Logan said, reaching out for my papers.
I gave them to him with a flip of my stomach. “Some of the things?—”
Logan caught my wrist and pulled me closer, like it was completely natural, and I loved that. “This is the fun part, wildfire. A list of things everyone enjoys, so we can find out what works for us. It’s not a list to judge or measure you by.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
His smile made the whole room brighter. “It’s okay to be nervous. It’s a weird thing.”
I blew out a breath. “Fucking right?”
“Not every day we reveal things so personal.” A wink that made everything flutter inside. “Go digging, and we’re going to look at this, okay?”
