LOGINLeo takes one step forward, just enough to stand on her other side. Poppy’s breath catches, but he doesn’t reach for her. He doesn’t look at me; his focus is entirely on her.“Is this okay?” he asks.The question hangs between us, weighted with everything it doesn’t say… Is this okay?… Are we okay?…
Leo finally speaks again. “Fate might have matched us together, but that doesn’t mean you’re an obligation,” he says. “And you’re not a prize. You’re a choice.”Her eyes flick to his, and I see the exact second his words sink in. Something inside her settles, not completely, but enough.I want this
** Jake’s POV **She’s close enough now that I can feel the heat coming off her skin, and I still haven’t touched her.Every instinct I have is screaming at me to close the distance. To pull her in. To make sure she’s real and solid and not just something my bond-starved mind conjured up to survive
“I didn’t know if I should come tonight,” I admit. “I thought maybe… tomorrow.” My voice sounds smaller than I intended.Leo shifts slightly, not stepping forward, just redistributing his weight. The sound of his boot against the wood makes my stomach flip.“You don’t have to be here if it’s not wha
** Poppy’s POV **They stand, but they don’t move. That’s the first thing I notice. Not the cabin, nor the way the porch light casts a warm gold over them. Not even the way the bond feels thicker here, heavier in my chest. They are so still.I’m not sure what I expected… running into each other’s ar
“Then she doesn’t come.”“What if she stays at Paige’s?”“Then we wait.”His jaw tightens. “And if she decides she made a mistake coming back at all?”I finally look at him.“Then we let her go.”The words feel like a punch to the chest as I force them out.Jake swallows hard. He nods because he kno







