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The air inside the fort was thick, charged with the kind of electricity that comes when three people breathe the same oxygen in a space too small for their desires. Kade’s low, amused promise of fun was still vibrating in the dark, and Dane’s grip on me had tightened.
“Not tired, huh?” Dane’s voice was a rough caress against my ear. He moved, shifting until he was looming over me, his broad shoulders blocking out the light from the lantern.
Kade moved on my right, his heat a constant, heavy presence. My heart danced against my ribs. I wanted this. I wanted to lose myself in them.
But as Dane’s hand slid beneath the hem of his shirt, his fingers brushing the sensitive skin of my hip, a thought snagged in my brain. It was a loose thread I couldn’t stop pulling.
“Wait,” I whispered, my hand catching his wrist.
Dane froze, his thumb halting its slow, agonizing circle against my skin. “What is it, Babygirl?”
“I have one more question,” I breathed.
Beside me, Kade went still.
I looked up at Dane. “Your ex. Do you guys still talk?”
Dane’s hand, which had been idly tracing the line of my hip, went perfectly still. Beside me, Kade stopped mid-chew. He didn’t look at us; he looked at the wool ceiling of our cave, his expression going uncharacteristically blank.
“Yes, but only when I have to,” he said honestly.
“Why would you still need to talk to someone you broke up with four years ago? Do you guys still…” I couldn’t finish the thought. It made my stomach turn.
Knots. What would I do if he was friends with all of his exes?
He sat up, his broad shoulders brushing the top of the blanket fort. “No, we don’t. I talk to her when she calls for money, or when I have to beg her to see my daughter.”
My lungs seized. The air in the fort suddenly turned thin. I stared at him, searching for a punchline, but his eyes held nothing but devastating honesty.
“A daughter?” I rasped.
I looked at Kade, seeking a joke to break the weight, but he was still staring at the ceiling, his jaw working in a way that told me this was the one topic that wasn’t a game.
“It wasn’t in your Mythinder bio,” I rasped. Unconsciously, I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened.
“I wasn’t on Mythinder looking for a life partner,” he said slow and carefully.
“I guess not,” I scoffed.
“Until you.” He held my gaze.
“H-how old is she?”
At this, his eyes softened and a smile spread. It wasn’t the same one he’d given me. This was tender, gentle, loving. He loved her. Adored her.
“She’s 4. We broke up before she turned 1.”
“Knots, and she’s with her Mother?”
“Yes,” he clenched his jaw.
I wanted to scream—to ask why he’d waited days to tell me. But I had no right to demand his history.
“You didn’t think about mentioning it?”
“We were a little preoccupied,” he smirked.
“I… want to hit you right now,” I said.
He laughed.
“You think this is funny? I don’t like being lied to, Dane!” His laughter cut off and his eyes were on me again.
“I wasn’t laughing at you,” he said gently. He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. A shudder wracked my body.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Dahlia.”
The name lingered in the small space, turning the bomb he’d just dropped into a person. “She’s the only reason I’m still in contact with my ex,” Dane continued. He reached out, his hand gripping the back of my neck to pull me into his space until our foreheads touched.
I wanted to be angry, but thinking of a miniature version of him made my fury dissolve.
“You make me want more,” I whispered against his lips. “And it scares the hell out of me.”
Dane pulled me into a deep, claiming kiss, and I opened for him, letting the heat of his body bulldoze the walls I’d built.
“You don’t have to be scared of me,” he said against my lips when we pulled apart. He lay back, pulling me into his arms. Kade was silent on my other side, his presence a reminder of the warning he’d given me.
Eventually, they drifted off.
I stayed awake, staring at the blanket while doubts crept in. What if he isn’t single? What if I’m just the distraction while his real life waits for him to come home?
I looked at Dane’s sleeping face—the strong jaw, the ethereal features highlighted by the moonlight leaking through the holes in the blanket. My gaze trailed down his chest. I’d promised myself I’d never get this close again. I was a liar.
I couldn’t live with myself if I was a homewrecker. My fragile heart wouldn’t make it if he grew cold one day and started to hate me. The incoming storm felt closer than ever, and as I tucked myself closer to his side, I realized the rain was already beating against the fort walls.
“I love you,” Dane murmured, his voice thick with sleep. It felt like the mist from the storm was sneaking beneath the cracks of the blanket, chilling me to the bone.
My heart clenched. For the first time in that impenetrable fort, I felt completely exposed.