And then it’s just me and the O’Brien brothers.
Alone at last.
54
October 13th
“You can say no.” Axel walks up to me, tugging me to his side.
“No,” I say.
Darius laughs. “Good keep fucking with him like that, Axel needs a reality check.”
Axel ignores him entirely. “I’m going to remember that,” he whispers into my ear, before licking my lobe.
The electricity that shoots down my spine keeps me from responding.
“That’s better.” Axel reaches into his pocket before brandishing its contents.
Tickets.
“The space center?” My heart beats in my throat.
Grayson walks forward, cupping my cheek in one of his large hands. He bends until we are eye level. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. But we thought it might be nice to do somethingfun. To finally just enjoy our time together.”
My attention flips to Darius, and he inclines his head.
“Please, can we? Just go and forget about the world for the day? Forget about our grief. The time loops. Everything.”
Grayson quirks his lips, placing a chaste kiss on my forehead. “Of course.”
“The loops,” Darius murmurs. “Did your memories ever come back from theother timelines?”
Unease wraps around my stomach, squeezing it uncomfortably. “No,” I say. It isn’t exactly a lie, but it’s also not the truth. “Sort of,” I splutter. “It’s complicated.” I let out an exasperated sigh.
“Your body remembers, but your mind doesn’t?” Darius asks.
I incline my head. Because that is the closest to the correct answer I can think of.
“Good.” Axel’s fingers dig into my skin. “You don’t need to remember everything you went through. You deserve a break.”
And maybe he’s right. But the guilt of not knowing furrows deep in my belly.
I ignore it, pushing it as far down as I can.
“Can we go today?” Now that they have planted the seed, I realize how much I need this trip. This distraction.
“Yes,” Axel chimes in first, twisting me in his arms. Planting his lips firmly on mine, searing me.
I’m not sure if I will ever get used to Axel’s brand of love. To his explosive and chaotic tendencies. But that’s okay. I need the shock to my system. Need the reminder that I’m alive.
And then he’s releasing me, and I’m twisting in his arms, breaking from his hold, escaping upstairs to change.
And then we all file into Grayson’s car that Jane had returned yesterday.
I am excited to finally, after all this time, have some sort of semblance of calm.
55
