Page 94 of Obey

“Good,” he says, voice low and smug. “Because that was just the start.”

His fingers toy with the hem of the blanket, slow and deliberate, like each word is meant to pull me deeper.

“Thing about it,” he says, “is once I had him, I thought that was it. Endgame. He’d put up with my shit, keep me in line, and I’d keep poking at him until he remembered how to laugh. Balance.” He shrugs, cocky, but the softness in his eyes gives him away. “I didn’t think we needed anyone else.”

I nod slowly, trying not to show how tightly I’m hanging on every syllable. “But you did.”

“Yeah, we did.” His grin spreads. "Elias came later, after SOLAÉ launched and Nate and I were drowning. We brought him in to take over the security side of things."

“And you immediately wanted him?”

Jace’s grin turns sheepish. “Pretty much.”

He tells me Elias walked into the interview, took one look at the mess they’d built, and started identifying problems neither of them had admitted existed. Jace was fascinated.

Nate was not.

“He thought he was losing you.”

“Yeah.” Jace’s expression softened. “Except I wasn’t going anywhere. That was the part Nate couldn’t understand. Wanting Elias didn’t take anything away from what I felt for him. But my sweet workaholic didn’t care. He’d snap at Elias in meetings, cut him off, give him that ice-cold stare like he wanted him gone.”

He chuckles. “But Elias didn’t even flinch. Just watched. Waited. Like he knew Nate was burning himself out.”

“So what changed?”

“Elias got tired of us being idiots.” Jace laughs. “One night he told Nate to either trust him or let him walk. Nate pinned him to a wall instead.”

I blink.

“Turns out they had a lot to work through.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“And yet you’re smiling.” He exhales slowly. “Anyway, we stopped fighting it. We let him in. It wasn’t about replacement. It was about completion. The three of us… finally made sense.”

The way he says it lands harder than I expect. Their world settled into place long before I stumbled into it.

Insatiable.

Preston's voice comes back with the word, and suddenly I'm wondering how long it'll take before they start seeing me the same way.

What if he was right?

Jace’s fingers brush my cheek. I jerk at the touch, blinking, but he’s watching me with unnerving clarity. The words slip out before I can stop them. “I’m sorry.”

Jace frowns. “For what?”

I shake my head and start untangling myself from the sheets. “I should go.”

Jace catches my wrist before I can stand, firm without trapping me. “Whoa. What just happened?” His eyes search mine, concern overtaking the confusion.

I can't look at him. I have to get out of here before the rejection comes.

The bedroom door opens, and Nate steps in first, followed by Elias carrying a tray. The light from the hall throws sharp lines across their faces, cutting through the heavy air.

They both freeze at the sight of me half off the mattress, Jace’s hand wrapped around my wrist, my eyes stinging with unshed tears.

“What’s going on?” Nate asks, his voice quiet steel.