Page 248 of What We Brave
I stop. Swallow.
"Like you could actually stay," Blake finishes quietly.
"Yeah." My eyes are stinging.Oh, for fuck's sake."Yeah. Like that."
"You can stay," Reid says. His hand squeezes mine. "We want you to stay."
"I know." A tear escapes, slides down my temple into my hair. "I know. I'm staying. I just—I didn't know it would feel like this."
"Like what?" Blake asks again.
"Like home."
The word hangs there in the darkness. Simple and enormous and true.
Blake makes a sound—not quite a word, more like something cracking open—and pulls me closer. Reid's arm tightens around my waist.
"We should clean up," Reid mumbles eventually.
"Later."
"We're disgusting."
"Later."
He's quiet for a moment. "Are we gonna talk about the fact that I touched your dick?"
"No. We're not," Blake mutters, shoulders shaking.
"Got it. It's like a 'what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom kind of thing'.
"Pretty much. You try and touch my dick when Laine's not around, I'm gonna fuck you up."
Reid's quiet for a minute. "Ditto. I don't think I'd enjoy you touching mine much if Laine weren't around. Your callouses are fucking huge."
Now my shoulders are shaking. "Reid." I elbow him weakly. "Later. Sleep now."
Nobody moves.
The moonlight shifts across the ceiling. I listen to them breathe—Reid's slow and steady, Blake's still a little uneven. My own heartbeat settling into something calm.
I almost ran from this,I think.I almost left.
The thought feels distant now. Like a memory of someone else's fear.
"Hey," I say softly. "Thank you."
"For what?" Reid asks.
"For waiting. For not giving up on me while I figured my stuff out."
Blake's arm tightens. "Never."
"Never, ever," Reid echoes.
I close my eyes. Let myself believe them.
When I wake up again,it's morning. Actual morning—sun streaming in, birds being obnoxious outside, Reid hogging every single blanket like a hibernating bear.
