Page 78 of Freestyle
“Let us help you,” he says. “Let us have you.”
The air trembles. So do I.
They’re not pressing. They’re offering.
Suddenly I realize that I’ve been holding my heart hostage out of fear, but they’ve been standing here the whole time, waiting for me to open the door.
Can I do this?
Can I shed the armor, let them see the pieces, and trust they won’t just pick through thedamage?
“I don’t know how. I don’tknowhow.” My throat tightens. Words tangle into knots I can’t undo.
But then, warmth. Hands. One on my wrist, another brushing hair back from my eyes. Not pushing. Not pulling.
Justthere.
“You don’t have to know how,” Gray says gently. “You just have to stay.”
“And if you fall,” Nix whispers, brushing his thumb against my cheek, “we’ll catch you. Even if it takes everything.”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
Because they don’t see a shattered little girl.
They seemeand they want me, not in spite of the cracks, but through them.
Maybe even because of them.
I look at them. These two flawed, fierce, beautiful boys.
And I let the words escape before I can stop them, “Catch me.”
And they do.
With their hands.
With their hearts.
With everything they are.
Nix kisses me on the forehead, keeping his lips in place a beat longer.
“Text Lynds,” he murmurs. “Tell her we’re coming.”
Gray nods. “We’ll be quick. There are security cameras surrounding the house, and they are always being monitored. You’ll be safe here, I promise.”
Phoenix gives me a look, not demanding, not dramatic, just present. Like if I flinch now, he’ll burn the whole campus down and call it mercy.
Gray pauses at the door, one hand braced against the frame, the other curling into a quiet fist at his side. The hallway light cuts across his face, and for a second he doesn’t look like the cold-blooded strategist everyone thinks he is.
He just looks like him, the version I used to catch glimpses of when no one was watching.
His eyes find mine.
“You’re safe here,” he repeats softly. “Even if you don’t feel like it.”
It’s not dramatic. Not a promise wrapped in steel and fury. It’s quiet. Honest.
