ever right, and there is no excuse in the world for how I treated you. Not my brother, not my dad, not Zara. And I’m not promising I won’t ever hurt you again because one night of getting my back thrashed to death won’t fix everything, but I promise I’ll try.”
Looking at him in the dim light with the shadows over his apologetic eyes, I fight the urge to gather this broken, sad boy into my arms and kiss away every ounce of pain and fear because I want him to know this love is hard fought and hard won.
But I can’t make him suffer for it anymore.
“Come here.”
He rounds the island quickly and lands hard against my chest as I wrap my arms around him, holding him close. He breathes heavily into my neck, and I feel the pounding of his heart against mine. There is nothing between us now. No regrets or secrets or lies.
We stand there a moment, not speaking. Not moving.
Not until we hear the sound of footsteps approaching. Hanna runs her hands softly against my back, and Nash and I both move to pull her in at the same time. Squeezed between us, we breathe the same air, sharing one space.
“This is nice,” she whispers. And it is.
Conventional? No.
But we’re all broken down so far that it takes more than one person to complete us. This relationship wouldn’t stand if even one person were to leave it. But it’s what makes us stronger together.
“Who’s hungry?” I ask as I pull away.
“I’m starving,” Nash groans. The two of them cuddle on the couch while I make a midnight breakfast.
As we gather around the table to eat, things are comfortable. The only sound that fills the room is our breathing, the delicate clang of our forks against the plates, and after the intense, emotionally draining day we’ve had, the quiet is welcome.
“I heard my dad paid you a visit,” Nash says in a soft tone.
“He did.” I watch his expression. The sudden reminder of Alistair in my office makes me nervous. If Nash is going to fight opening up to his family, then I’ll know we still have a long way to go.
“I told him everything,” he says. “I, um, came out.”
I have to swallow the bite of food in my mouth before I let myself smile, just a lopsided grin as my eyes travel up to his face.
“And?”
“And they already knew.” An easy laugh spills out of his mouth, and if his cheeks weren’t already red from the crying he did earlier, I think he’d be blushing.
“I bet it still felt good,” I reply.
His blue eyes shine as he focuses on me. Nodding, he says, “It did.”
Through the entirety of our relationship, Nash held onto a sense of fear and shame, unable to accept what he is, a bisexual man. It was all just a part of his armor, and I know that now, but it feels so fucking good to see him shed that facade. To be truly free.
Hanna clears her throat, dabbing her lips with her napkin. “I need to do a little coming out of my own,” she says, looking at Nash.
We both turn to work her with furrowed brows.
“I have to tell Zara about us.” She looks genuinely nervous, biting the inside of her lip and letting out a heavy exhale.
“Oh, she already knows,” Nash says with a wince.
Hanna’s eyes widen as her gaze bounces between me and him.
“She does?”
“Yeah. She said something to me while we were inside today, or yesterday. I don’t even know what day it is, but she brought it up, and she’s not mad.”
“Not mad at you,” she says with a scoff.
“Or you.” He places his hand on hers and looks her in the eye. “Honestly, I think she would have tried to set us up if I hadn’t been such an asshole. Zara has been through hell too, Hanna. She wants for you the same thing she found.”
“A rich man with a private island?” Hanna adds with a wide smile, leaning her head on her hand propped up on the table.
I find myself laughing and reaching across the table to touch her. After everything, it’s so nice to be able to crack jokes and smile with them. It feels like the days on Del Rey when it all started with the three of us.
“Speaking of my private island,” he says, touching her elbow.
“I’m not moving there,” she replies quickly. “I still need to do things on