Page 102 of Serpentine

“No. I’m fine, Bambi,” I grumble, not taking my eyes off the ceiling.

She’s moved back in. Her father already knows she’s connected to us, and Miles and I didn’t want to be apart from her any longer.

A twinge near my wound makes me hiss, and Aella jerks with awareness before rolling over and meeting my eyes with hers. Panic has her alert, and guilt crushes my soul as I watch her go from sleepy and ready to knock out to physically prepared to take on the world for me.

“I’m fine,” I tell her, “just a little pain. I won’t die.”

I regret the words as soon as they’re out because I could have.

Her lips turn downward grimly as her hand cups my face gently. “You could’ve, Brax.”

“I know,” I relent. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way; it’s just… I’ll be fine.”

I’m not used to anyone caring—other than Miles. The way she looks at me, the way she handles me like I’m made of glass. Sometimes, it’s overwhelming because I can feel her becoming more to me. To us. I don’t know what to do with all the feelings inside. She’s becoming our universe in the way Mom was. In the way that a woman should be to the man who loves her. But there’s two of us. Even though we think we can make it work, I wonder if we can.

I also wonder if I shouldn’t step back. Let them have their lives together. Even though I know I’m likely falling in love with Aella, he’s the best for her.

“What’s going on in there?” Aella asks, narrowing her brows as her finger ghosts across my temple.

“Nothing.”

“Something. Enough of something to make you look the saddest I’ve ever seen you look.”

I fake a smile, taking time to look over her beautiful features. Her pouty lips and wavy hair that’s a mess because she’s letting it air dry. Her cheeks glow in the red lights of the room. Her pulse is hammering behind the flesh of her throat, and her breathing speeds the longer I take to ogle her.

“How can I be sad with someone so beautiful beside me?”

She smirks, hand cupping under my chin as she leans forward. Her lips hover over mine as she whispers, “That’s what I’m wondering.”

Her confidence makes my lips lift as a chuckle slips past them. “Cocky little thing.”

“Mmm, not until I met you two.”

There it is. This is a reminder that we will never be just Brax and Aella. We’ll always be Brax, Aella, and Miles. While I’m wholeheartedly excited—and thrilled—that Miles has finally admitted his feelings towards me, I’m eager to see where things go.

While Aella is becoming something I can’t see myself living without in the future, Miles has always been that for me.

Since the night that he helped me wash off the cold of winter and made me hot cocoa when we were small, even then, before puberty confused my already different brain, I knew he would be a part of my life for the duration. If something goes wrong between us, I’ll lose them both.

Miles is home.

Safe.

“You should get some sleep. You had a long night at work.”

Her exhaustion is palpable to me as the heartbeat in my chest. She’s beat. It’s only been a couple of shifts since she swapped to nights. She’s not used to the change yet. None of us are.

“I’m not tired,” she whispers against my lips, giving them a light peck afterward. I know I need to let her sleep, but she’s squashing all the good sense I have inside me right now with how close she’s hovering. Her left hand is lying on my thigh; that’s also not helping.

“Aella,” I groan as she peppers me with small kisses that make my brain feel like it’s going to implode if I don’t have her tongue against mine in the next five seconds.

“Braxton,” she echoes, and it’s as if my name is the catalyst in the experiment that causes the reaction. My lips claim hers, head lifting off the pillow. My hands thread into her hair, tugging slightly to give me something to ground myself against her electricity.

When she moans into my kiss, my cock throbs behind my pants.

She slips over my lap beneath the covers we’ve been lying under, sliding her heat over me.

I pull my lips from hers, and it feels like I have to use every ounce of strength I have to do so. “You really need some sleep.”

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