20. River
River
“ S top it.”
Jenson pauses in his pacing to glower in my direction.
I wave a knife at him before sliding it into place on the table. Trying to at least give the impression of a civilised house. “Don’t give me that look. You’re making my head swim watching you stomp back and forth.”
But I know how he feels. The same unease swirls in my stomach, the clock ticking on with no sign of Kai or Briar. “She’ll be here.”
I wish I believed my own optimism. Jenson clearly doesn’t believe it either, carrying on with his stalking up and down the dining room. “Maybe we missed something.”
“We didn’t miss a thing.” At least, he didn’t, that razor-sharp focus coming in handy over the past few weeks. “You’ve been over everything, Jens. There’s nothing else you could have done. If she decides this isn’t for her, it’s not because you missed a step.”
And this is the final one. After tonight, there’s no going back. We’ll have been inside her, tasted her, even if she decides she doesn’t want to see us again.
Fuck, I hope that’s not the case.
What started as something new, something fresh and a little taboo to explore for me now feels like something I never knew I needed.
I need her . Need her the way I’ve been dreaming about. Briar has infiltrated my sleep, my waking hours, every fucking thought, it feels like. “She’s coming.”
Both of our heads shoot up at the telltale ding of the front gate. Jenson swivels in place, looking so undone in that moment that I hold my hands up. “Fucking hell. Jenson. Breathe.”
But my own oxygen sticks in my lungs, refusing to move.
She’s here.