Chapter 19

Ollie's POV

The walk to their apartment feels significantly longer than two blocks.

Mostly because Luca will not shut up.

“You know,” he says beside me as we climb the stairs, “statistically speaking, mates usually exchange phone numbers before entering the yearning stage.”

I nearly trip.

Shane coughs suspiciously into his fist to cover a laugh while Adrian just looks disappointed in all of us.

“I’m going home,” I mutter.

“You are home,” Adrian replies dryly.

I choose to ignore him.

By the time we reach their apartment door, my nerves are wound so tight it’s honestly embarrassing.

I haven’t seen her all week.

Which shouldn’t matter this much.

Except it does.

The door swings open before we can knock properly.

And chaos immediately spills out.

Music.

Laughter.

The smell of something sweet mixed with vodka.

Kylah beams at us from the doorway. “Finally.”

Luca walks in first like he’s returning to his vacation property. “Missed us?”

“No,” Anya says from somewhere inside immediately.

“Lies.”

I barely hear any of it.

Because my eyes are already searching the apartment automatically.

And then I see her.

Standing near the kitchen counter with a red solo cup in her hands.

My entire body goes still.

God.

She’s beautiful.

Dark hair loose around her shoulders, cheeks slightly flushed already, oversized sweater slipping off one shoulder just enough to completely ruin my ability to think coherently.

And for one tiny second, she just stares at me too.

Like the room paused for her too.

Relief crashes through me so suddenly it almost makes me dizzy.

She’s here.

My wolf immediately settles beneath my skin, calm now that she’s in front of us again.

"Mine."

I ignore that aggressively.

Then Meghan blinks first, visibly catching herself.

And suddenly I realize everyone else in the apartment has absolutely noticed whatever the hell that was.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Luca grins slowly beside me.

“Oh,” he says quietly. “That’s insane.”

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were about to.”

Kylah appears beside Meghan with the expression of someone actively watching reality television unfold live.

“Oh good,” she says brightly. “Now that the emotional support boys are here, can we finally leave?”

“Emotional support boys?” Adrian repeats flatly.

“Yes,” Eliana says, grabbing her jacket. “You’ve all somehow become emotionally attached to each other in under a week. It’s weird.”

My eyes flick back to Meghan instinctively.

She’s already looking at me again.

And the second our eyes meet—

There it is.

That pull.

Sharp.

Instant.

Like my entire body recognizes her before my brain can catch up.

Her heartbeat spikes slightly.

Mine answers immediately.

I am so unbelievably screwed.

Anya suddenly claps once. “Okay! Outside before I become sober enough to regret this outfit.”

The apartment erupts into movement after that.

Everyone grabbing coats, drinks, phones, yelling over each other while Luca somehow ends up arguing with Kylah about music before we even make it downstairs.

And through all of it—

Meghan drifts toward me naturally.

Not forced.

Not awkward.

Just… closer.

Until she’s suddenly standing right beside me while everyone else moves around us.

Neither of us says anything at first.

But I can feel the warmth of her beside me.

And God, I missed this.

Then quietly, almost shyly, she glances up at me.

“Hi.”

Two letters.

One word.

And somehow my entire chest softens instantly.

I smile before I can stop myself.

“Hi, Megs.”

The nickname makes her cheeks pink immediately.

Cute.

Dangerously cute.

For a second neither of us looks away.

The noise of the apartment fades strangely around the edges again, everyone else blurring into background sound while she stands there looking up at me like she’s trying to figure something out.

And honestly?

Same.

Because every time I’m around her, the pull gets stronger.

Not weaker.

Like whatever this bond is between us keeps tightening every second we spend together.

I notice her fingers fidget slightly around the cup in her hand.

Nervous.

My wolf immediately perks up protectively.

Easy.

Without really thinking about it, I lean down just slightly closer to her.

“You okay?” I ask quietly.

Her eyes flick to mine instantly.

And something about the way she looks at me right then nearly ruins me completely.

Soft.

Careful.

Like she wants to trust me but doesn’t fully understand why yet.

“Yeah,” she says after a second. “Just… overwhelmed, I think.”

I nod slowly.

“I get that.”

And I do.

More than she realizes.

Because I’m one sentence away from having a complete existential crisis every time she stands too close to me.

Before either of us can say anything else, Luca loudly gags from across the apartment.

“Oh my God, just kiss already.”

Meghan chokes on her drink immediately while I glare at him so hard he actually takes a step backward laughing.

“Relax,” he says, hands up defensively. “The tension in here is making my eye twitch.”

Anya points aggressively toward the door. “Move before I kill all of you.”

And somehow, while everyone starts filing out laughing and yelling over each other—

Meghan’s sleeve brushes against my hand.

Tiny contact.

Barely there.

But she doesn’t move away.

Neither do I.