I sigh, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. Morning light filters through the blinds. Sleep's been a lost cause anyway. I've been tossing and turning since 3 AM, my brain refusing to shut down. Typical.
The wooden floor creaks under my bare feet as I stand. In the bed across the room, Zane snores softly, sprawled on his stomach with one arm dangling off the mattress. Kid sleeps like he's been tranquilized.
I pull on sweatpants and a hoodie, my movements automatic. The house is quiet—unusual for a team that's normally clattering around before dawn, stumbling toward coffee and protein shakes before heading to the water. Everyone's taking advantage of the late morning. Including Gray and Reese.
And from downstairs, I catch it—honey and sunshine, now mixed with cedar and stone. Reese's heat scent carrying Gray's marks. My senses have always been sharper than the others, picking up what they miss. Sometimes a curse, especially around Omegas.
I push open the window, breathing in the fresh morning air to clear my head and reset my senses. Get my shit together.
Bo first, then Gray. The logical progression of Reese's heat management. Makes perfect sense. So why does it stick in my brain like a splinter?
Maybe because Eli keeps giving me these looks. Like yesterday, when we passed in the hallway. That knowing expression that says he sees right through me, understands what I'm feeling before I do.
Fuck it. I grab my keys and head for the door. Overthinking shit at 6 AM never solved anything.
The hallway is empty, but as I reach the stairs, I see Eli at the bottom. Of course he's awake. Guy probably schedules his REM cycles for maximum efficiency.
He looks up, coffee mug in hand, his sandy hair sticking up in the back. "Going somewhere?"
"Errand for Gray." I try to move past him, but he shifts, blocking my path without being obvious about it.
"For Gray," he repeats. "Or for Reese?"
My jaw tightens. "Does it matter?"
"It might." Nothing changes in his expression, but his scent sharpens. Pine and paper with that metallic edge it gets when he's focused. "Depending on your answer."
"Gray asked me to get clothes from her dorm. That's it."
Eli studies me, analytical as always. "And you said yes."
"I was awake anyway." I finally step around him, heading for the door. "Don't make it weird."
"What's weird is you pretending not to care." He follows my movement, coffee forgotten in his hand. "When we both know you do."
I pause with my hand on the doorknob, not looking back. "Not now, Eli."
"When, then?" His voice drops lower. "When she's gone through heat without you? When you've convinced yourself you don't want what's happening?"
Heat rises up my neck. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" He sets his mug down. "I see how you watch her. How you've been watching her since she arrived. Fighting it because of what happened at Hampton Hills."
"Leave it," I warn.
"You don't have to keep running, Jackson." He steps closer, his voice gentler now. "From her. From me. From any of this. You know it doesn't have to be either/or, right?"
I turn, frustration boiling over. "Says the guy who analyzes every fucking thing. Running probability simulations in your head while the rest of us deal with actual feelings."
"You think I don't feel this?" For once, Eli's calculated composure cracks. "You think I'm just collecting data when I look at you? At her? At what's happening to all of us?"
We stare at each other, the weight of three years hanging between us. Three years of hookups and unspoken agreements. Three years of whatever this is, what we've never bothered to define because definition meant commitment.
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm not saying you have to choose between us. That's not how this works—not how any of this works. You can want her and still want me. I can want you both. That's the whole point."
The simple logic of it cuts through my defenses. Leave it to Eli to distill something this complicated into something that makes perfect sense.
"I need to go," I say, turning back to the door. "Gray's waiting."
