Page 65 of Yours to Break

He gave me a small, genuine smile and nodded.

“Could you—maybe—forgive me too?” I asked. “I don’t want to ever lose your friendship.”

“I forgive you, Ollie. We both messed up, so let’s leave it in the past. Deal?”

“Deal, Laney,” I whispered, eyes misty. I caught Chloe’s gaze and laughed, “Deal, Chloe?”

She gave me a slow, deliberate blink.

“Oh my god, Ollie! She loves you!”

“Huh?”

“The slow blink! Do it back! Now, Ollie, Jesus!” Lane said excitedly.

Holding back a giggle, I stared back at Chloe and returned the gesture. Lane beamed and flopped backward onto the mattress. I followed, soaking in the calm and comfort his presence always brought.

Then he gasped. “The twins! Have they been good to you? I’ll make Grey get you out of there if you need it. Are they feeding you? Are they mean? Tell me everything. Please.”

I turned onto my side, propping my head up with one hand as I looked into his kind eyes. “It was rocky at first,” I admitted. “Really rocky. Hudson and Hayes… they’re intense. I didn’t know how to talk to them, and they didn’t know how to talk to me. The first week, I cried like, every night. It was scary. I lost my virginity, they dressed me up like a dog without really explaining why. They shot a guy in the face right in front of me. They gave me like ten orgasms a day.”

Lane snorted, then covered his mouth with his hand. “That sounds horrifying.”

“It kind of really was,” I said, awkwardly laughing with him. “But then… I don’t know. Things changed. They’re still terrible at expressing things out loud, but they show it in other ways. They make sure I eat. They fret over every scratch or bruise I get, even though they’re the ones who usually come from. They watched a lot of animal documentaries with me. They paid my debt from my top surgery. In general, they make me feel safe. Needed. Like I’m an essential part of their little family.”

I looked over at him, and Lane was watching me with that soft, open expression that always made me feel seen. “I love them,” I said, quieter now. “Both of them. I didn’t expect it, and it definitely wasn’t easy, and honestly, I tried to resist it for longer than I’ll ever admit to them, but they take care of me, Lane. Really, really well. We talked about love and how their love is different from mine. Different than most people’s. But they love me. They love me, Laney.”

Lane grinned, eyes shining. “Grey and I had that exact same talk.” Lane’s smile faltered just a little, his gaze drifting to the ceiling as he stroked Chloe’s grey fur. “I’m glad they take care of you,” he said quietly. “You deserve that after everything… after what I let them do to you. I’m just so glad that it ended up okay, you know? After I saw you that day, when the Tate stuff happened, I felt all this guilt weighing on my shoulders. I should’ve fucking checked on you. Something.”

I turned my head to look at him. “Lane… you were—”

He shook his head, jaw tightening. “I don’t want you to tell me it wasn’t my fault. I know it wasn’t all on me, but I still carry it. I could’ve helped you. I still hear you crying when I wasn’t there. I still remember the way you looked so scared to see me that day. You looked like a different person, Ollie, and it felt like a punch to the gut. You had a damn collar around your neck and was sitting at Hayes’s feet. His feet.”

I didn’t speak for a moment. There wasn’t anything easy to say. “Who knew I was into being ordered around and shit?”

“Uh, everyone?”

I burst out in laughter. “Shut up.” I sighed happily. “It was a definite mindfuck, not gonna lie. I’m probably brainwashed, but I’m okay with it. Which is definitely what a brainwashed person would say, but—What I mean to say is that I never hated when they touched me, even at the beginning. The gun was terrifying, so maybe that wasn’t—”

“I’m sorry, thegun?” Lane exclaimed. I felt Lane’s fingers curl protectively around mine.

“That first night… I know I’m trying to laugh it off, but… it wasn’t okay. The twins kidnapped me at gunpoint, fingered me like a minute after, and then Greyson scared me so badly I peed myself.”

Lane blinked. “He what?”

“He was mad at me for our argument, but I think above that, he was terrified of losing you. He blamed me for you running away. I know he was just trying to keep you safe, but I thought he was going to kill me. The beginning… I wish I could erase the whole start of my relationship with the twins. I love them now, I do. I just like thinking about the good times rather than focus on the fucked up shit they put me through. I don’t like how psychopaths ‘flirt’.”

The door creaked open, and Greyson leaned against the frame, one brow raised in casual amusement. “Is this a private trauma bonding session, or can I intrude?”

Lane rolled his eyes but smiled as he sat up. “We’re just talking.”

“Talking and holding hands,” Greyson duly noted, stepping inside. He moved with that calm, deliberate precision I’d come to associate with people who always had five backup plans and one concealed weapon. “I won’t interrupt long. Just wanted to check in.”

I gave him a small, nervous smile. “Hey, Grey.”

He nodded in return, then let his gaze linger on me for a beat too long, like he was reading a page I hadn’t realized I was holding open. “You look better than when I last saw you,” he said. “More grounded. Softer around the edges. That’s good.”

“Thanks?” I said, unsure if that was a compliment or a weird form of diagnosis.

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