The door shut behind him, and I stood there for a long moment, unmoving.
The silence pressed in around me, thick as fog. My skin still buzzed where his hands had touched me—where his lips had landed not once, but twice.
I should’ve gone straight to the mess hall.
Instead, I turned and walked numbly to the showers, my boots echoing faintly in the hall. The moment the water hit my skin, I let my head fall forward, palms braced against the tiled wall.
What the hell just happened?
I closed my eyes, trying to breathe past the tangle in my chest. I had kissed Leo. Slade had kissed me. And I liked them both.
A lot.
I thought of Phoenix the other night. How he had lay down next to me just to comfort me.
I liked him too.
I pressed my forehead to the cool tile, breathing hard. I didn’t know how to do this. I didn’t know how to want people andtrustthem at the same time. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe past the tangle in my chest.
I had kissed Leo.
Slade had kissed me.
And I liked them both.
A lot.
Then came the image of Phoenix—quiet, steady—lying beside me on the cold training floor, just to make sure I wasn’t alone.
I liked him too.
Too much.
And Thorne…
The thought of him hit like a crack of thunder—distant, but impossible to ignore.
I pressed my forehead harder to the cool tile, struggling to slow my spiralling thoughts. My breath came fast, shallow, catching hard in my chest.
I didn’t know how to do this.
I didn’t know how to want people and trust them at the same time.
A sharp inhale rattled through me—I was starting to hyperventilate.
There’s no way they all want me. That’s impossible. It’s too much.
And if they did… what about Finn?
My throat closed up. Guilt wrapped around me like iron.
Did I forget about him? Just left him out there in the streets while I got warm and comfortable and kissed other people? What if he needs me?
The water was still running. I shut it off and stood frozen, letting the last of it drip down my frame.
I looked down at myself.
The constant food. The training. The sleep I’d finally started to get. The scrawny girl who once cowered in alleyways was gone.
