Page 101 of Five

“Nah. I think it needed to come from one of us.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching Jesse as he paces the parking lot, tension evident in every line of his body. Oliver pats the porch, between him and Remi, and I settle in between them.

I nudge Remi’s knee with mine.

“Everything, huh?”

His hand lands on my knee and squeezes. “I’m not good with words, Neve. None of us are, except maybe Ollie here. But yeah. You’re everything we’ve ever hoped to find one day. You complete our family in a way we only dreamed of.”

Oliver puts a hand on my other knee and squeezes, his touch warm and tender and sparking memories of other touches, hours earlier. Swallowing hard, I lay my head on Remi’s shoulder.

They’re everything I ever dreamed of, too.

Strength. Security. Romance and heat. With the possible exception of Jesse, they’re genuinely nice guys, authentic in their motivations and intentions and follow-through. I’ve known so many guys who told you what they thought you wanted to hear, without really meaning it. Not so with these guys. In the short time I’ve been with them, I’ve felt more appreciated and seen than I have in a lifetime.

I can’t imagine leaving. We haven’t been together long, but it’s been long enough for me to know I don’t want to be without them.

Which means Jesse and I need to come to an understanding.

I sigh and climb to my feet, then walk toward him. He’s standing now, facing away from us with his hands on his hips. Tension rides the line of his shoulders.

“Jesse.”

He pivots to face me. “What?”

“You were right. I needed to calm down and act normal.”

He looks down at the ground. “Yeah, you did.” Gravel scrapes as he scuffs the asphalt with the toe of his shoe. “But I was more of an asshole than I needed to be.”

“Well.” I wrinkle my nose. There’s no polite way to say it. “That’s because you’re an asshole, Jesse.” Muffled laughter sounds behind me, and Jesse looks over my shoulder with a scowl. “But that’s okay—” I hasten to add. “We all like you in spite of it.”

“Gee, I’m overwhelmed,” he says dryly, making me huff a laugh in spite of myself.

“I just…can we start over? I want this to work, Jesse, more than you know. I realize it looks like I’m this clingy, needy woman, but that’s not me. Do I need you right now? Of course. And who wouldn’t want to cling to every one of you—you’re all so muscley and perfect for clinging, after all. But—”

Jesse kisses me.

I shut up the instant one large hand circles the back of my neck and pulls me up to meet his mouth, which descends on mine with a growl of sound abruptly fractured when our lips meet.

Jesse kisses like he does everything—decisively and rudely, the pressure of his mouth bruising on mine. Demanding.

When he breaks away we’re both breathing heavily, and there’s stark silence behind us, heavy with anticipation of whatever comes next.

“So there’s that.” We eye each other, challenge and acceptance dueling in our gazes, until he blinks. “But here’s the thing. You’re not going to be of any help in whatever happens next. We know the suspect is armed. We know—”

I pull out of his grip. “You kiss the hell out of me and then you go back to an argument we were having ten minutes ago?” I roll my eyes. “Jesus, Jesse.”

“It’s important.”

“We don’t even know if he’s still in there. This is all total supposition. He could be out, looking for another ride. He could have picked another building altogether. We’re probably completely stupid for even bringing Oz out here—”

The high whine of a child’s cry pierces the night and stops me mid-sentence. My hand flies up to grip Jesse’s bicep, and I whirl around to face the others. “Did you—?”

They’re already on their feet. They heard.

Something switches inside me, the anxious nerves I’ve had all day calming to a steady acknowledgment. The topic of conversation I’ve been trying to avoid all day is no longer simply an abstract something to distract myself from. She’s here. She’s alive.

Oh, God; she is alive.