Page 31 of Wild Thorns

I didn't know how to respond to that.

Jasper appeared in the doorway, complaining that Callum was being unreasonable about something and demanding that I settle the argument. The moment passed, Rowena turned back to her dishes, and I let myself be pulled into the comfortable chaos of the Voss family orbit.

But I kept thinking about it. You fit, like a piece that was missing. Like my arrival wasn't coincidence but destiny, or fate, or something equally ridiculous that I didn't believe in.

Except.

Except the pull was real. The way my whole body seemed to know when they were nearby, even before I saw them, that felt real too.

I made a list. My response to chaos: structure, categories, the illusion of control when I was trying to understand something that didn't make sense. When the chaos got too loud and I needed to impose some order, some structure, some illusion of control.

Things I know about Callum:

He takes his coffee black

He is never late

He stands between people and anything that might threaten them with the unconscious reflex of someone who has been doing it his whole life

When he looks at me, I feel like I'm the only thing in the world worth seeing

He knows my coffee order better than I do

He remembers the name of my grandmother from a story I told once, weeks ago

He doesn't talk much, but when he does, every word counts

His eyes flash gold sometimes, just for a second, when he's feeling something strongly

He smells like cedar and something wilder, something that makes me think of deep forests and running water

Things I know about Jasper:

He tells the truth when it matters, despite the jokes and the deflection

He is kinder than he lets on, than he wants people to see

He remembers one specific thing I said two weeks ago and brings it up casually, like it matters

His smile makes me feel warm even when I'm determined to be sensible

He dropped everything to check on me when he saw I was upset

He makes me laugh when I've forgotten how

Beneath the charm, there is something fierce and protective that he shows to very few people

His skin runs hot, almost feverish, and I don't think it's illness

He growled once, actually growled, when he was angry about Marcus, and it didn't sound human

Things I know about Eli:

He reads six books simultaneously and remembers everything in all of them

He asks better questions than anyone I've met

He thinks about everything twice, sometimes three times, before he speaks