Page 207 of Piece Us Together

Nolan sits up at the sound of my name. Matt squawks, unimpressed that Nolan’s movement sent him nearly flat on his face. Nolan doesn’t care. He’s already running toward us, eyes bright, smile big.

“Babe!” He throws himself at me. I catch him, spinning him around as my chest warms. Hunter is chuckling. He grabs us, stopping my momentum, and wraps his arms around both of us. “Hi, sir.”

“Hey, darling.” Hunter kisses Nolan’s cheek, then mine. He frowns when he looks at me. “Oh, sweetheart. You don’t think this is real, do you?”

“What if it’s not?” I whisper. “What if it’s not over?”

He just smiles. “Wake up.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hunter

Somehow, I didn’t wake up to Maison sneaking into the bed with us. I wake up to the nightmare, though. So does Nolan.

“Do you think this means it went bad with Carter?” he whispers as we watch Maison’s chest rise and fall in heaving, terrified gasps.

“I don’t know, darling…”

“He has to quit, Hunter.”

“I know.”

“Hehasto.”

“Shh.” I kiss the top of his head. “I know.”

I hold him as we wait for the ending to come. Wait for the desperateI’m sorrys. But that’s not what happens.

Maison jerks awake, eyes wide, his breath sucked in as a gasp. He looks around him before landing on us.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Hey.” His voice is hoarse. Thick. He looks at Nolan. “I woke you guys up.”

“We don’t mind,” Nolan promises.

I put my free hand out toward him, only halfway. It’s a question. An offer. Sometimes he doesn’t want to be touched after nightmares. Sometimes he’s desperate for it.

He closes the gap, taking my wrist and guiding it toward himself. I take over from there, fingers wrapping around the side of his neck, warm against his cool skin. He didn’t work up a sweat like he usually does with his nightmares. He’s not as shaky, either. Not as unsettled. He leans into the touch, releasing a sigh of relief.

“Nightmare?” I ask.

He laughs, something strange about it. Something that doesn’t quite fit with a nightmare. “Actually, no.”

“No?”

He looks at each of us, a smile growing on his face. It doesn’t stop until it’s wide. Bright. Him smiling like that, with the way the moonlight is casting over him, makes my chest hurt. I love him so much. The both of them.

He laughs again. Stronger this time. I finally place the something strange—it’s relief. He sounds so fucking relieved. “Turns out, it was a dream.”

“A dream?” Nolan asks carefully.

“Yeah.” He puts a hand on each of our cheeks. “Turns out, it’s the happiest fucking dream of my life.”

I smile despite my sheer confusion. “That’s…good. I’m glad.”

“I quit,” he blurts. I feel Nolan stiffen against me. Maison doesn’t give either of us a chance to respond. “And Carter and I are going to work on our relationship. He wants to be brothers again. Like we were before. He even—” He laughs, softer this time, incredulous. “He evenapologized. And I got us more Christmas decorations. Bags full of them. And I want to put them up together, the three of us. And I want to keep having dreams in your bed, Hunter. Even the nightmares. I want to always wake up to both of you, and I want quiet breakfasts andmovie marathons on the couch. I want to teach you guys how to build a fucking fire. I want to finish the snowman outside. I want Nolan to organize your kitchen how he likes, because he can’t fucking stand where your silverware drawer is and he thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that the canned food is in the cabinet above the oven.” He takes a sharp breath. “I want you to make the world go quiet for me, and I want to figure out how we can make it go quiet for you too.”

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