“Thank you,” she whispered.
I held onto her hand and looked at the bruises Luke had left on her throat, then back to her eyes because those mattered more.
“He asked if I loved you.”
The whole room went still.
Aura looked down at her phone like the medication list had suddenly become legally fascinating. Charm froze with one hand halfway inside a bag of gummy bears.
Bliss stared at me as her voice came out barely there. “What did you say?”
I brushed my thumb over her knuckles. The big words sat right there between us. But they weren’t for an audience. So, I gave her what I could give her now. The truth with the door still cracked instead of blown wide open.
“I told him you’re it for me.”
Her eyes filled instantly.
“Oh,” she whispered.
I smiled faintly. “Yeah.”
“That is very inconvenient.”
“I figured.”
“I was trying to be chill about all this.”
“You were terrible at it.”
“I’m injured.”
“You were terrible before.”
Her laugh broke through the tears, tiny and careful and worth every call I would ever have to make.
“I hate you,” she whispered.
I lifted her hand to my mouth.
“No,” I said against her knuckles. “You don’t.”
34
Bliss
By the fourth day of being babied inside Hockey House, I was genuinely considering biting someone.
Not Cade.
Probably not Cade.
Maybe Cade.
Honestly, it depended on the hour.
The entire house had turned into a surveillance state with better cheekbones. Private security stood outside like we were guarding a president, which was rude because no president had ever been forced to drink this much chamomile tea. Aura and Charm had fully moved in under the excuse of “civilized supervision,” but really, they were scared to go back to the apartment without me, and I hated that so much I couldn’t even make a good joke about it without feeling like my ribs were breaking all over again. The attorney Harrison Mercer hired had come to Cade’s bedroom like a calm, expensive omen in a suit and somehow managed to baby me while explaining warrants, victim statements, evidence preservation, and what not to say without counsel present. He kept his voice gentle the whole time, which made me want to throw a pillow at him on principle.
Everyone was gentle now.
