Page 101 of Hymns of the Broken

“Just don’t let the past convince you that you’re unworthy of being adored,” she whispers, thumb wiping a tear before it falls. “Because I see it. Clear as day. And they do too.”

Tears prickle at the corners of my eyes, but I smile. A real one. “When did you get so good at this?”

She grins, bumping my shoulder. “Girl, I have been waiting years for you to get a proper breakdown so I could show off my wisdom.”

We both burst out laughing again—loud, honest, and free.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like I belong somewhere.

Maybe I’m enough.

Chapter 18

JASPER

I didn’t mean to overhear it.

I’m heading down the hall to grab my charger from the media room when their voices float out from Sawyer’s door. I don’t linger on purpose, but the second I hear her voice—soft and shaky—my feet stop moving. I’m caught, helpless.

“…I don’t think I’ve ever been wanted like this before. And it scares the hell out of me…”

That does something to me. A twist behind my ribs, cold and hot at the same time. It hurts me in a way I rarely feel towards others.She sounds so small. Sounds like she’sstill waiting for someone to pull the rug out from underher.

She doesn’t know I’m here. I don’t stay long. Just long enough to hear her question if she’s a prize or a game to us.

To him.

Suddenly, I can’t breathe. I turn straight down the hall, fists clenched, boots heavy on the stairs—like I can stomp out the noise in my head. Riot isn’t in the kitchen. He’s not sprawled across the couch, headphones in, pretending nothing matters. I find him out back, lit cigarette glowing between his fingers, one boot up on the low stone wall, staring into the dark.

He doesn’t even flinch when I step out.

“Took you longer than I thought, ’boyfriend’,” he mutters, not looking at me.

I fold my arms, jaw tight enough to crack a tooth. “We need to talk.”

“Figured.” He finally turns his head, flicking ash onto the stone. “About Sawyer?”

“I’m not here to throw punches unless you earn them,” I grit out. “But I need to know what the hell it is you’re doing.”

Riot cocks a brow, lazy and sharp all at once. “Doing?”

“She’s not a fucking toy, Riot. She’s not a conquest or a stage to act out whatever warped fantasy you’ve got about taking something that’s mine.”

That gets a reaction.Hisexpression darkens, eyes narrowing, mouth flattening into a line. “She’snot yours, Jasper. Not all the way. You know it. She’s not mine either. But she could be both. You just don’t want to admit it.”

I step forward, voice dropping to a threat. “You don’t know the thingsshe’sbeen through. It took her a while to even stand in front of people again without flinching. She’s finally believing she’s worth something. I won’t let you take that from her.”

He looks down, exhaling slowly, the cigarette hanging between his fingers like a thought he doesn’t want to finish. For a second, neither of us moves. The air is thick, charged.

“I’m not trying to break her,” he says after a long pause, his voice hoarse. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want her. I want all of her, Jasper.”

The words hang between us, dangerous and honest.

“I don’t know what this is turning into,” he adds, voice quieter now, the bravado bleeding out. “But I know I’ve never wanted anything like I wanther. And if you think I’m going to back off just because you got there first, you don’t know me at all. She wants me too.”

Every muscle in my body is tense—coiled, ready to snap. I want to hithim. Just once. To take the edge off this boiling thing inside me. But I don’t, for her.

Instead, I stare him down, the porch light casting long shadows, the night air cool and sharp in my lungs. “You want her, fine. But if you fuck with her head—if you touch her heart and leave her bleeding—you’ll answer to me.”