Page 69 of Pucking Tangled
And for one long, aching moment, Mia let herself melt into it.
Let herselffeelit.
The heat. The hunger. The quiet intensity that was Owen Hawk.
But even as her heart raced, even as she gasped into his mouth when his tongue slid against hers, the same knife that she felt like she’d stabbed Casey with twisted in her chest.
Luca.
It washiskisses. His name still lingered on the tip of her tongue. She could still feel him all around her. Inside her.
The way he’d consumed her.
Owned her.
Stole a piece of her heart that she’d never get back.
Mia pushed back, breaking their kiss and sucking in air like she was resurfacing from the deep parallels of the ocean.
Owen gave her space, his chest heaving but his eyes full of compassion and grace.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, eyes wide, hands trembling.
He shook his head slowly. “Don’t be.”
“I just…” her voice cracked. “I promised him I wasn’t leaving. That he still had time. And now I…” Her eyes burned and a lump formed in her throat.
Tears rolled down her face.
“Hey,” Owen said gently. “We’ve all known what this was. What it could be. It’s messy. It hurts. But it’sreal.”
Mia swallowed back the lump in her throat.
“I want you,” she said, looking from Casey to Owen and back again. “Both of you…allof you. This isn’t me pretending I don’t.” She swiped the tears from her face. “But I don't know how to want you two and Waylon without feeling like I’m also cheating on Luca.”
Owen nodded with that quiet steadiness that had always made him feel like gravity. “We’ll figure it out. All of us. Together.”
Casey slid his hand into hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We have to Mia. Because you’re too damn important to lose.”
They were right. Both of them. Willing. Wanting. Waiting for her to choose or not choose orjust feelher way through it.
But her heart was crowded.
Luca lived in one corner, soft and reverent. Waylon, bold and taunting, had taken up space without her even knowing how it’d happened. And now Casey and Owen stood in the doorway, offering themselves like theymeant it.
It was too much.
Too muchgood. Too much ache.
She let go of Casey’s hand and stepped from in between the two of them.
“I just need a minute,” she whispered, before she fled to the safety of her room.
The second her bedroom door clicked shut behind her, Mia pressed her back to the wall and slid down to the floor letting her tears take over again.
She wasn’t sad. At least she didn’t think she was.
Overwhelmed? Absolutely.
