Page 224 of Heart of Frost and Scars

“How are you not in jail?”

“Self-defense. Six against one. The cops let me walk.”

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No.”

Six men attacked him? And he only has one cut?

Fuck.

As I prepare to give him a local anesthetic, he grips my arm.

“No numbing,” he says. “I need to feel this.”

“Why?”

“Need to feel your hands on me.”

My chest squeezes and cracks.

With blurry, wet vision, I focus on the task. Neither of us speaks while I stitch the deep cut. But his eyes never leave mine. Not once.

Finished, I set the supplies aside. Then I give him what he really came here for.

I place my hands on the sharp edges of his face and slide them to his ears, his neck, and into his hair. Bending, I drag my nose along his and nuzzle him.

He loosens a rough exhale and wraps a muscled arm around me, hauling me onto the bed, right on top of his prone body.

So much for changing the locks on my heart.

Relaxing my weight, I rest my head on his shoulder and breathe in his manly garage and cedar scent.

When he says nothing, I go first.

“I’m sorry.”

He waits, his silence uncharacteristically patient.

“I touched Monty’s chest, his stomach, and he kissed me. I didn’t kiss him back. I didn’t push him away, either. I didn’t stop him.”

“You wanted to kiss him.”

“Yes, but not without you. I don’t want him without you, and I don’t want to exclude him.” My throat burns. “In a perfect world, all four of us are together.”

“That’s your perfect world.”

“How is it not yours? You have a relationship with him. It’s not like your bond with Kody, but it can be. It can be whatever you let it be. I’ve seen the love among the three of you. I’m not asking you to share me with someone you despise. If you replay the past five months you’ve spent with him, is there any part you hated? Does he make you miserable? He put a roof over your head, helped you pursue your dreams, bought you yachts and motorcycles, and—”

“I know, Frankie.” His jaw flexes against my head. “I fucking know. I owe him everything, but I will not give you up as payment.”

“No one is asking you to do that.”

“He is. Maybe not as payment, but that’s what he wants.”

“Change his mind.”

He barks an incredulous laugh.

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