Chapter 14 Hana
Hana
Islammed the bedroom door shut behind me.
“Seriously?” I snapped at Jack. “What the fuck was that?”
His arms were crossed over his chest, his jaw flexing. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
I blinked. “I’m not sure what the fuck brought this on, Jack.”
Jack paced the room, his hands fisted at his sides like he didn’t trust himself to speak. When he finally turned, his voice came out low and rough. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“What wasn’t?” I asked, folding my arms.
“You and him.” He swallowed hard. “You’ve shared men with me before. You’ve watched me fuck them, I watched you fuck them. But this—”
I blinked. “Jack—”
“It’s him,” he bit out. “It’s Elliott. He’s not like the others. He’s got his shit together. He’s older. Smarter. Hot as fuck. He’s your type, Hana. He’s everyone’s type.”
I stared at him, my breath shallow. “This is about Elliott?”
“Yes. You want to know why this feels different?” he snapped, his voice breaking. “Because I was never involved with him. I never touched him. I watched him fuck you. And I saw something on your face I haven’t seen since…”
He didn’t finish.
“Since Michael?” I asked, anger and hurt and confusion in my words.
Jack’s eyes flared. “Don’t fucking say his name.”
I stepped forward, my voice softening. He didn’t need my anger—he needed to be pulled back. “Jack, he’s not you. I never wanted him instead of you.”
His eyes were still wild with emotion. “I don’t want to feel like I’m competing for you. Not again. Not with a guy like that.”
I reached for his face, cupping his cheek. “Then let’s stop. No more pretending we’re okay with this if we’re not. No more pushing past our boundaries.”
His hand came up to hold mine, keeping it anchored to his cheek. “You swear you’re mine?”
“I’ve always been yours,” I whispered. “Even before I knew it.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“I can’t be perfect, Hana,” he said finally. “I can’t always be okay. I can’t always share. And I’m tired of pretending I’m not still the same possessive, desperate sod who took you and made you fall for me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
My breath was still uneven, my hands trembling slightly as I held his face between them. “Tell me what you want,” I whispered.
Jack’s eyes darkened instantly. That familiar flicker—possessive, ravenous, heated—rose in him like a storm. His hands slid down to my hips and yanked me tight against him.
“You,” he growled. “The way I always have you. Screaming, desperate, begging for more.”
Before I could respond, he spun me around, bending me over the edge of the bed. His palm came down hard across my ass—once, then twice.
“I’ve been starving for this,” he muttered, yanking my underwear down, his mouth hot at the nape of my neck. “For you.”
A moan spilled from my lips. “Then take me,” I gasped. “Take what’s yours.”
He didn’t hesitate. He thrust into me hard, and I cried out, pushing against the bed as he gripped my hips like he was reclaiming what had always been his.
This wasn’t sweet or careful or patient. This was Jack unfiltered—raw, jealous, desperate. The Jack who took what he wanted and made me beg for more.
He wrapped his hand in my hair, yanked my head back just enough to breathe into my ear, “You’re mine, Hana.”
I whimpered, “Yes.”
He slammed into me again. “So say it.”
“I’m yours, Jack,” I cried out.
His hand wrapped around my waist, his fingers working my clit while he kept pounding into me, tenacious and perfect in the way only Jack ever was. Every thrust brought me closer to the edge. And when I finally came, screaming into the room, he followed right behind me, groaning my name.
* * *
We lay in bed for a while, his breath hot against the back of my neck, his arms tight around me as he spooned me.
He turned me over, and his eyes searched mine. “You love me, right? Even after all this—after him—after them?”
“God, Jack,” I murmured, sliding my hand to cup his cheek. “Always. Forever. We’ve been through worse.”
His throat bobbed, and for once, he didn’t have a smartass comeback. He was just that wounded, boyish Jack, the way he was when the weight of the world got too heavy.
“But,” I added gently, “We owe them a conversation. They didn’t hurt us, Jack. They did nothing wrong.”
He looked off in the distance. He knew I was right, but he didn’t always admit it.
“Okay,” he said with a sigh.
I smiled. “Let’s go fix it.”
We got dressed and slowly walked down the hall, knocking gently at their door.
Jack stood beside me, his arms crossed but his expression soft. Jackie opened the door after a moment. Her eyes were wary but she gave us a smile. Elliott was behind her, packing a duffel bag that was on the bed.
“We’re not here to rehash,” I said quickly. “Just…we wanna talk before we all go.”
She looked back at Elliott, and they exchanged a silent conversation. She turned back to me and nodded. “Okay.”
We all walked into the living room, sitting down on the couches where we all fucked for days in a row.
I folded my hands in my lap. “I just wanted to say…we don’t regret anything. At least, I don’t.”
Jack nodded beside me. “Neither do I,” he said softly, eyeing Jackie.
“But I think we pushed something that maybe wasn’t built to last,” I said gently. “Not like that. Not all of it.”
Jackie’s gaze flicked to Elliott. He looked tired, and somehow sad.
“I agree,” she said after a moment. “It got messy. There were too many feelings underneath. Too many cracks we didn’t see coming.”
“We let things escalate too fast,” Elliott said. “And maybe we weren’t honest with ourselves—or each other—about how we’d feel once they did.”
There was a long silence as we each looked down at the floor, contemplating our words.
Jack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I care about you both. I don’t want to lose that friendship because we couldn’t read our own limits.”
“We won’t,” Jackie said firmly. “We’re still friends. That doesn’t have to change.”
I looked at her and nodded. “No more blurred lines. No more pushing ourselves into things just to prove we’re okay. Let’s just…be okay.”
She gave me her perfect, beautiful smile, and this time, it was real.
“We’re okay,” she said.
Elliott gave a nod. “We are.”
It wasn’t some dramatic end. We had all gone through too much together for us to not get through this.
And now, we were just four people who had tested the edge—and stepped back before we fell.