He grins, quick and bright, but his eyes don’t let me off the hook. “Yeah. But I’m your pain in the ass.”
The words knock the breath from me. He says them like a joke, but they land heavy in my chest.
Mine. Like he belongs to me as much as I belong to him.
I look away, staring at the muted glow of the TV screen. If I let myself meet his gaze, I’ll drown.
Phoenix shifts, reaching for the remote, and the sudden lack of tension almost hurts. The room goes dark when he clicks the TV off. For a moment, it’s just the sound of our breathing, the world outside hushed.
Then he stands, stretching again, and looks down at me. His silhouette is sharp against the dim light from the kitchen. “It’s late,” he says, softer now. “You want me to drive you home?”
The question hangs in the air like a trap. A lifeline. A choice.
My chest tightens, torn between the relief of escape and the ache of wanting to stay right here.
Because leaving feels impossible.
And staying feels worse.
9
PHOENIX
The drive back feels wrong.
I should feel good after a day like this. Calm, steady, settled. That’s what it was—Leander curled up on my couch, my lips against his neck, his knee propped on a pillow because I said so. No fights, no chaos, no girls clinging to me just so I could make him jealous. Just him. Us.
It should’ve been enough.
But now that he’s sitting in the passenger seat, hoodie zipped to his chin, eyes fixed on the window, that calm is already slipping away. My grip on the wheel tightens every time his knee shifts, every time his chest rises with a too-deep breath. The urge to look at him—to keep checking he’s still here—is so strong it feels like a goddamn itch under my skin.
I can’t stop thinking: what if I let him go home and I don’t see him again tomorrow? What if Silas gets in his head? What if someone else does? The thought of him anywhere but by my side makes my blood run hot, like my veins can’t handle the idea.
I clear my throat. “You got plans tomorrow?”
Leander doesn’t turn his head. “Why? Got something in mind?”
I snort. “Maybe, if you’re good.”
Leander shakes his head with a small smile. “Silas is coming over.”
The name hits like a blade scraping across glass. The brother. The one who already doesn’t trust me, doesn’t want me around.
I force my voice to stay level. “Then I’ll come by. No reason I can’t be there.”
That gets his attention. He twists toward me, brows drawn. “No. You can’t.”
I laugh, humorless. “Why not?”
“Because he’s already suspicious,” Leander says sharply. “If you show up, it’ll make it worse.”
Suspicious. The word tastes sour in my mouth. Suspicious of what? That I want Leander? That I already can’t fucking breathe when he’s not near me?
My hands clench tighter on the wheel. “I don’t like the idea of you being alone with him.”
Leander stares at me, stunned. “You say that like he’s a threat.”
“It feels like he is.”
