Page 57 of Pack Me Up

Cody shakes his head. “She wants someone who cares. That’s you.”

The room is spinning, and not just from the candles.

Colton edges closer, lowering his voice. “I know you think you’re not enough. I know you think you’re just the helper, but you’re wrong. Brittney’s comfortable with you. She trusts you.” He nudges the wine bottle. “And I think you want her, too.”

I do. I always will. But the truth is a bruise I keep pressing, just to see if it still hurts.

“I’m not going to take her first time,” I say, but even I don’t buy it.

Cody leans against the wall, arms folded, eyes soft. “Well, it’s up to her in the end, we are just building the scene if this is what she wants.”

Colton’s hand lands on my shoulder, heavy and solid. “Let us do this for you. For her. You both deserve it.”

I want to argue, but the words won’t come. Instead, I just stand there, staring at the string lights, the candles, the perfect little nest the twins built. It looks like something out of a movie.

My hands are shaking, so I stuff them in my pockets and pace, counting the candles until I lose track.

The door opens. Hunter stands in the doorway, hand gentle on Brittney’s back, and for a second, it’s like the lights in the room exist only for her.

Brittney blinks, pupils blown wide, then stares at the candles, the soft nest of pillows, the two glasses of wine. She turns to Hunter like she’s waiting for the punchline.

Hunter just grins, gives her a nudge. “Go on,” he whispers. “It’s for you.”

She takes a step inside, and Hunter and the twins slip away, shadows in the hall. The door clicks softly behind her.

We’re alone.

I can’t breathe. She stands in the middle of the room, hands twisted in the hem of her cardigan, eyes darting everywhere but me. She looks smaller in the low light, her hair a tumble of shadows and highlights, her face so open it hurts.

“Wow,” she says, voice barely more than air. “Did you do all this?”

I shake my head. “No, I’m just as surprised as you are.”

She smiles, shyly, and then her gaze finds mine and holds. “Why?”

I try to speak, but the words jam in my throat. “Because you deserve something… good,” I say, and want to die at how weak it sounds. “Because they wanted you to have a nice night before your heat.”

She walks closer, stopping at the edge of the blanket. Her toes curl into the fuzz, and I can smell her now. It’s toffee, but edged with something sharper. Something new.

I keep my hands jammed in my pockets so she can’t see them shake.

Brittney glances at the wine, then at me. “Did they set this up to seduce me?” she asks, deadpan.

I almost laugh. “Maybe.”

She bites her lip. “Okay.”

I blink. “Okay?”

She nods, stepping closer, close enough that I can see the gold flecks in her eyes. “I want you,” she says. “I’ve wanted you since the beginning.”

My brain short-circuits. For a second, all I can do is stare. The whole world narrows to her, to the rise and fall of her chest, to the quiver in her hands, to the way she looks at me like I’m the only person who’s ever mattered.

I step forward, tentative, and she meets me halfway.

“Are you sure?” I whisper, my heart in my mouth.

She grins, teeth flashing in the candlelight. “Fox, if you don’t kiss me right now, I’ll whine, and then the others will ruin the moment.”