Page 198 of Primal

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I’m sprawled on the mattress, hazy and drifting and warm in the places that matter.

Kade’s back, crouching beside me on the mattress. He’s thrown on his sweatpants—bare torso still gleaming with sweat and gloriously on display. A towel slung over his shoulder. Water bottle in one hand. The other filled with random snacks—chips, a banana, a melted protein bar. Double Stuf Oreos.

A faint laugh escapes me. “Did you rob a vending machine?”

“Pantry. Max’s stash too.” His gaze sweeps over me, stretched out and bare except for his shirt half-pulled over me. “Figured you’d need something.”

He sets everything down and leans in. The towel’s warm, damp. He wipes me clean with slow, steady hands. My breasts. My belly. Between my legs, gentle even when I flinch.

His fingers pause between my thighs. “Hurts?”

I shake my head. It’s not pain. It’s how careful he is. Like I’m something precious.

“I can carry you to my room upstairs. If you want.”

“Here’s good.”

“Yeah?” His mouth curves faintly. “Me too.”

He climbs in beside me. Tugs a blanket over both of us.

“Kade?” I snuggle into him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why’d you say no? Back when I asked you out.”

“Because I didn’t think I deserved you.”

My body’s wrecked. My heart’s cracked open.

“Max’s dad—Robert—was beating him. Cheating on my mom. One night, I just … snapped.” He swallows. “I killed him, Payton. Buried the body. Told them he left.”

The pre-Verge version of me would’ve flinched. But that girl’s gone.

“I think my mom always knew.” A muscle ticks in his jaw. “She never said it, but she hates me.”

His eyes finally meet mine. “Do you?”

“Not at all. Thank you for telling me.”

He exhales—like something in him finally unclenches. His hand finds mine under the blanket.

“One more thing.”

“Yeah?”

“Should I start calling you Ben when you’re being soft?”

He gives me a look. “Try it and see what happens.”

When he kisses the top of my head and offers me half an Oreo, I think—

Maybe we’ll be okay.

This isn’t the stuff of dreamy love songs.