Page 15 of Yours to Break

“Yes, it is very exciting.”

“Well, I have therapy today and I think that beats a china cabinet,” he smirked.

“About that… Don’t you think your therapist acted weird when we saw him at the cafe? He was looking at you weirdly.”

He also had brothers who reminded me of the twins from The Shining–not concerning at all.

He raised his brows, speaking in a defensive tone, “What do you mean? I mean his brothers were pretty fucking weird, but Dr. Cohen acted how he normally acts with me.”

“Lane… Have any of your prior therapists acted like him?”

“Well, no, but–”

“There’s nobut, Lane…” I reasoned, “I just feel like he actsoff. Like, for one, he totally isn’t supposed to be randomly telling people he’s your therapist. And two, he was looking at you like he was interested in you–and not as a client.” I carefully watched my friend’s expressions. I was hoping it wasn’t the case, but he looked pleased to hear that I thought his therapist was flirting with him.

“I guess. It’s just his personality and treatment style. He’s very laid back to create a comfortable environment. There’s no way he’d ever be into me, though,” he murmured.

I sighed, “Okay. I mean, you do spend more time with him, and I only saw him for a couple of minutes. Just be careful, okay?”

* * *

I didn’t have to wait long until two annoyingly attractive menaces entered the shop. I had started thinking that one twin meant a good day, and two meant a bad day; that was how often they’d been lurking around. I could’ve handled it better if they just didn’t talk—but no.

“You know, pup, if you just gave in and spent a night with us, we wouldn’t have to bother you like this,” Hayes crooned, his perfect—stupid—smile making my heart flutter against my will. I ignored them, instead focusing on the work in front of me. I heard a dramatic sigh as I continued sorting through the jewelry section.

It almost gave me a heart attack when I suddenly sensed two large bodies behind me.

Hudson whispered into my ear, “What is it that you want? What would make you say yes?” My breath caught in my throat.

Hayes leaned in from behind on the other side. I shivered as his lips made the faintest connection with that ear. “What’s making you say no when your body clearly reacts to us?” I held back a whimper, realizing that they had me trapped between them and a large curio cabinet.

I took a shuddering breath, not sounding nearly as confident as I’d hoped when I responded, “I don’t do one-night stands. Especially with the two of you.”

“What does that mean, sweetheart?” Hudson asked.

“Just… you—I don’t need to explain myself to you,” I squeaked.

“You’ll give in sooner or later,” Hayes said, shifting so that I had an escape. My body jolted forward towards it, but I was met by his arm shooting out to block my exit. “Personally, I’d like it to be sooner.” His arm then lifted, freeing me. I scurried all the way back to behind the counter, gasping with relief at the physical barrier.

I tracked each of their steps as they strolled to the door to leave. Once they had left, I slid to the ground and tried to ignore a truth that I wasn’t ready to face yet.

I was aching down there.

I sat there on the embarrassingly dirty floor, heart hammering in my chest like I’d run a sprint. My hands were shaking. Not with fear—at least, not just fear. It was the feeling of beingseentoo deeply, too easily. Of being read like a book I hadn’t even finished writing. They always knew which buttons to push, which breaths to steal.

It was infuriating.

I wanted to scream, to throw something, to slam the door and bolt it shut behind them for good. But what scared me more was the part of me that didn’t want them to stop. That part—the one that lit up when they got close, the one that burned hotter when they pressed against me—was getting harder to ignore.

I touched my neck where their breath had ghosted over my skin. It was still warm.

They wanted me, and not in the casual, easy way people usually want someone. It was intense, obsessive, and territorial. I didn’t know what they saw in me or why I was the target of their fixation, but it felt like being circled by wolves who had already decided I was theirs.

And the worst part?

Some small, traitorous part of me was starting to wonder what it would feel like to stop running.

After I finally felt able to stand up, I turned the sign in the window toClosedand hurried out of the store, taking a moment to lock up, before racing up the stairs to my apartment.

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