Page 38 of End Game

“And thus is the way of so many sexual assaults in the U.S.,” Micah adds gently.

I swallow past the thickness in my throat.

He’s right. This is one of many reasons why victims of things far worse than what happened to me don’t come forward.

“You want me to report it?” I ask, looking right at him.

He shakes his head and meets my eyes. “No, well, yes, but only if that’s what you want, Cami. I agree with Ronan—it’s completely up to you. I will stand by you and support you either way.”

As I nod, the focus drifts away from me and back to Ronan.

“When do you think you’ll talk to your family again?” Griffin asks.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll give it a couple of days. I won’t ignore them if they reach out, though.”

Above the table where everything is in full view, I reach over and rest my hand on his arm. He covers my hand with his other one and squeezes it gently.

Griffin’s thumb grazes my shoulder, where his hand is resting.

I realize this feels very different from when it’s Micah and Dex both with hands on me, but not in a bad way. It’s comfortable and natural, and I have no clue how it’s different from Micah and Dex, but it is.

Somehow, more masculine?

More protector and less straight physical touch?

I don’t fucking know, but I like both.

“Okay,” Dex starts, full sass in his voice, and we all brace for impact. “Can we talk about that?”

Then he looks very pointedly at my hand on Ronan’s arm and his hand on top of mine.

I know Ronan needs to control this conversation.

And as if we are completely in sync, he squeezes my hand and then pulls his arm away from my hand, while I pull back from him as well.

Griffin’s thumb grazes against my shoulder again.

“We can,” Ronan answers Dex. “It’s a conversation I need to have with you both anyway. Maybe it will… explain some things.”

Ronan’s eyes find mine, then drift to Griffin before landing back on Micah and Dex.

Then he tells them pretty much the same thing he told me, at least the first part.

“Oh, so you really do need me restrained, because I have no chill… got it,” Dex says.

We all laugh, at least momentarily.

“Mostly it just needs to be predictable,” Ronan corrects. “If it’s not predictable, then it will just pull me completely out of a moment or scene.”

“Dungeon Daddy just dropped the word scene in this conversation,” Dex teases. “I might need a cold shower.”

“Dex.” Micah nudges him.

Then Micah turns to Ronan. “Thank you for telling us. It makes sense, and I’m sure we,” he nudges Dex again, “can work with that. We’ll make it work.”

“But when are we going to talk about expanding the playroom?” Dex asks.

The mood does lighten at the question.