Page 113 of Scrum Heat

“Don’t worry. I can write you a poem later.”

“Oh god, please don’t.”

He kisses the top of my shoulder again. “How are you really feeling?”

It’s tempting to just say fine. To roll over, kiss him, pretend that everything’s blissed-out perfection.

But he deserves more than that.

And so do I.

“I feel…” I trail off, trying to find the words. “Full. Like, emotionally full. Bonded to you. Tied to Jax. I can feel both of you, and it’s… amazing. But a lot.”

He hums softly. “A lot, yeah. But… good?”

“Reallygood.”

I shift enough to glance back at him. “I can feel how happy you are.”

“Can you?” His smile turns soft, a little crooked. “Good. Because I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy. And that’sbeforeI had sex so good I forgot my name halfway through.”

I snort and shove at his chest. He catches my wrist and kisses it, and just like that, I’m melting again.

He brushes my hair back and studies me. “You know you’ve still got two more alphas to deal with, right?”

“Deal with?” I arch an eyebrow. “What am I doing, issuing citations?”

He grins. “I just mean… there’s still Rory. And Theo. You’re not feeling pressured, are you?”

The joke dies on my lips. Because that’s the real question, isn’t it?

“No,” I say. “Not pressured. Not exactly.”

He waits, quiet and steady.

“I… it feels kind of weird to say, but I want them. It’s just that everything’s moving so fast. And this game—Denton Vale—it’shuge. I don’t want to get in the way. Or be a distraction.”

“You’re not a distraction.”

“Not on purpose. But it’s not exactly normal to walk into a team dynamic and bond with half the starting lineup before a semi-final.”

Finn’s quiet for a second. “It doesn’t feel like a disruption. Not to us. It feels like…” He swallows. “Momentum. Like we’re not just playing for the club anymore. We’re playing foryou, too.”

That does something weird and fluttery in my chest.

“You think they feel that way?”

“Iknowthey do. Rory won’t say it, and Theo’s probably in the shower right now mentally choreographing how to make your first bond-night with him resemble a sacred ceremony; but yeah. They want this.”

I close my eyes for a second and try to let that settle.

The fear. The hope.

“I want them to choose it,” I say quietly. “Not because the OSC is breathing down our necks, but because theywantme.”

He pulls the blanket up over both of us, settling in.

“They do.” Finn presses a kiss behind my ear. “You don’t have to do anything until you’re ready, though. Honestly, screw the OSC, and the board for hopping on it all, too. There’s no pressure, no timeline—just…us. As we are.”

---