Chapter 27 #2
I snorted. “Dollface, that thing isn’t a bed. It’s a landmass. I’m pretty sure we need a map, a compass, and emergency rations just to locate each other in it.”
She twisted toward me, grinning up with a spark I hadn’t seen all day. “So what I hear you saying is that we should run some survival drills up there?”
The sultry glide of her voice hit me low and hot, damn near buckling my knees.
“If it involves full-body contact?” I arched a brow at her. “You won’t hear a single complaint. From any of us.”
“Hoowah!” Voodoo crowed from the couch, shameless and triumphant.
Grace broke into bright, helpless laughter—warm and alive—the shadows in her eyes scattering like they’d never existed.
Much better.
Legend
Two weeks back at Base, and Montana had done what Montana did best—buried the world in white and dared us to be anything but still.
Snow drifted past the big windows in lazy sheets, thick and soft as down.
The fire crackled in the hearth, steady and warm.
Goblin snored under Alphabet’s desk. Voodoo pretended to read.
Bones pretended he wasn’t hovering. As for me?
I was in the kitchen pretending not to stress-bake a third cobbler.
And Grace…
Grace stood near the fire wearing Bones’ hoodie and a look that said she was two thoughts away from falling down some dark tunnel.
She tilted toward the heat like a flower leaning toward the sun.
She didn’t even realize she did that—seeking warmth without asking for it. Seeking us without admitting it.
We were all adjusting to being home again. But she was the one relearning how to breathe.
Bones had gone to her first, because, of course he had.
He always moved to protect without thinking, and she always softened just a little when he did.
I watched them from the kitchen counter as I chopped more apples for the cinnamon apples for Gracie’s morning pancakes.
She had a weakness for them. Hence the apple cobbler for tonight’s dinner.
That and Voodoo sourced way too many damn apples, so I had to use them before they went bad.
Bones made her smile, and the tiny flicker of it loosened something tight in my chest.
Good. She needed that. Hell—we needed that.
Because the truth was, since coming back, everything had shifted.
We’d always been a team. A family of sorts.
But Grace had become the center gravity of this house.
Of us. Not because she asked to be. Not because we wanted her to carry anything—fuck she didn’t have to do a damn thing but keep breathing.
No, she was the center because that was where she fit.
Where she belonged.
Still… belonging and understanding were two different things. The deeper we settled into this… whatever this was… the more all the edges of everything left unsaid pulled tighter and tighter.
We’d agreed to so much without ever actually agreeing to it.
The shared bed.
The constant physical closeness.
The way all of us touched her and she touched us.
The quiet assumption that she was ours and we were hers.
The way she fell asleep pressed between us as naturally as breathing.
No one had said it aloud, but every one of us was living it.
Well, that wasn’t totally true. Grace had said it. She’d said she loved us. She’d told us that all the way back in France. She loved us and she wanted us. Then in Miami, she said she didn’t know what she wanted—except that it involved all of us. She wanted us.
So, our Gracie,—sweet, brave, traumatized, stubborn Grace—needed more from all of us like oxygen. Needed clarity. Needed truth she could hold in her hands. She needed to hear what we all felt but hadn’t given words to.
She needed to know she wasn’t temporary.
Bones got her laughing—real and bright—and the sound filled every room in the house like it always did. As she headed toward the kitchen for dinner, I wiped my hands on a towel and intercepted her gently.
“Hey,” I said, brushing my knuckles lightly along her arm. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
She blinked up at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I gave her a small smile. “But there’s something I think we should say out loud. Something all of us have been… avoiding.”
The whole house shifted. They’d heard me. I wasn’t so self-absorbed to think they weren’t feeling it. Understanding.
Grace took a small breath. A wary one. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” I said, stepping closer, letting my voice stay soft but firm. “But you—and us—we’re building something. We’re living something. And it’s long-term. Whether or not any of us have said that out loud.”
Her eyes went wide—uncertain, hopeful, scared.
“Legend…” she whispered.
“We’re here,” I told her. “Not just because you need us. Not because of your sister. Not just because you’re hurting—though I’d really like to fix that part.
We’re here because where you are is home.
This has always been Base, but now it’s home too because you are here.
I think it’s time we stopped pretending we didn’t all choose this already. ”
Bones crossed his arms behind her like a wall of warm muscle. “He’s right.”
Voodoo set his book aside and stood. “We’re already in, Firecracker.”
Alphabet shut his laptop, voice low but steady. “We should talk. All of us.”
Grace looked at each of us one by one—eyes shining, breath caught, shoulders trembling like she didn’t know whether to collapse or reach for us.
So I held her gaze and offered the truth she needed.
“No more guessing,” I said. “No more reading between lines. You deserve to know exactly where we stand.”
I reached out, offering my hand—not grabbing, not pulling, just offering.
“Let’s have the conversation we’ve all been avoiding,” I said softly. “Together.”
Her fingers slid into mine.I guided her gently toward the huge dining table.
Roasted butternut squash soup steamed in the tureen at the center, braised short ribs sat atop a bed of garlic mashed potatoes, maple-glazed carrots glistened beside them, and fresh homemade bread waited, still warm from the oven.
The apple cobbler was cooling on the counter, the scent of cinnamon and sugar already filling the room.
A wine glass awaited her while I’d put out beer mugs for the rest of us.
We weren’t always so formal at dinner, but I found myself glad as hell I’d decided to go for it tonight. I pulled out her chair and helped her settle in.
“You’re not getting out of this,” I said lightly, trying to ease the tension she carried like a shield.
Grace smiled faintly, sliding in, her hands brushing mine on the table. “I know,” she murmured.
Bones slid in next to her on her left, Voodoo across from him, Alphabet at the far end, Goblin tucked near near his feet, as I settled in opposite Gracie.
The table felt impossibly cozy, perfectly sized for us, the fire crackling just right, the snow drifting lazily outside as if the world itself had agreed to give us this space.
I poured her wine, careful not to spill a drop, then handed her the glass.
“I want to start,” I said softly, letting my fingers brush hers again. “Because I haven’t said it. Not properly.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, curious, expectant.
“I love you, Gracie,” I said, simple and unadorned. “I’ve loved you for a long time. But I didn’t say it out loud, because… I wanted you to feel safe, not pressured, not like there was any expectation. I wanted you to choose us the same way we’ve chosen you.”
Her lips parted, and I caught the catch of breath I knew she’d been holding.
Voodoo grinned slowly. “And I’ve said it too, Firecracker. You’ve got all of us, every day, every way you want. And I mean that.”
Alphabet’s calm voice cut through next. “I love you. I’ve told you before, but it bears repeating. You’ve got my heart, my trust, and my chaos. You’re in it with me, and I’m in it with you.”
That was all of us, save for Bones, who canted his head and waited for her to look at him. “You don’t have to question whether you belong to us—or we to you. We do. Your place is with us. Ours is with you. I told you once, not a single damn one of us is worthy of you.”
“You just had to go and say I love you in the weirdest way?” As dry as I kept my tone, it made the others grin, even Bones. But it was Gracie’s fierce smile that brightened the whole room.
“Shh,” she ordered. “He’s talking.”
“As I was saying,” Bones continued, giving me a wry look before he focused on her again.
“None of us are good enough, least of all me. But you love us anyway and you’re letting us love you.
So yes, Dollface, if you need to hear those words then hear them loud and clear, I love every damn stubborn inch of you. ”
Grace’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She swallowed hard, then glanced at me, then at Bones, then the others. “I… I love all of you too. I’ve said it. But… I didn’t know how much I wanted to hear it out loud. From all of you.”
“Sound off, gentlemen,” I said as I rose to serve the soup. “The lady needs to hear it.”
“I love you,” Voodoo said without preamble or hesitation.
“So do I,” Alphabet agreed. “I can’t get over how much I love you. Still can’t believe you think we’re lovable, but never letting you go.”
“Absolutely never,” I concurred and when those stunning blue eyes locked onto mine, I added, “I love you, Gracie.”
“Love you, Dollface. And if you ever doubt it,” Bones said quietly, brushing her hair back behind an ear. “We’ll remind you.”
“Every day,” Voodoo piled on as he raised his beer mug.
“We’re here,” Alphabet told her. “We’re not going anywhere without you and we’re never leaving you.”
I set her soup bowl in front of her. “You’re pretty much stuck with us, Gracie. Just—remember that whenever we piss you off, okay?”
She looked at each of us in turn, a single tear sliding down her face. “I will if you remember that you’re stuck with me too—even if I really piss you off.” The last she said to Bones and he cupped her face and kissed her.
“Deal.”