Page 58 of The Last Call Home
Behind me, I hear Cassian shift—footsteps across the floor, a soft exhale.He doesn’t say anything, just moves to stand beside me, close enough that the heat from his body hums along my skin.Not touching.Not yet.
Malerick stirs the sauce again, a flick of motion that looks casual, but I can feel the air around us stretching—like something’s rearranged and none of us are in a rush to put it back.Maybe we’ll just learn to be happy with whatever this becomes.
ChapterTwenty
Malerick
We watchDelilah’s headlights shrink until her taillights vanish past the curve in the road—out of sight, but not out of mind.Unfortunately, she didn’t want to stay overnight as I suggested.For one, she wants Cass and me to fix our shit first.This is a second chance for us and she won’t be facilitating it or becoming the glue what holds us together.She won’t start opening up more until the silence between us stops doing all the talking.
Also, her mom would know something is up.She’s already going to ask questions which she’ll be able to dodge easily since it’s nine o’clock.According to Lilah, after that time, it’d be challenging to get Rosalinda off our case.
And Rosalinda doesn’t let things go, and once she finds out about us, she’ll make sure every soul in town knows, too.
“Is it fucked up that we’re more scared of Rosalinda than the fucking Hollow Syndicate?”
Cassian doesn’t laugh.He just nods his head like it’s a legitimate concern.“The woman is terrifying.Regal as hell, but fucking terrifying.”
He pulls out his phone, tapping the screen with purpose.“I’ll track her.Just to make sure she gets home safe.”
“How?”I ask, side-eyeing him.“You planted a chip in her purse or something?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”He smirks, as if that might be the first thing he’ll do tomorrow morning.“We’ve got CCTVs all over town.I’ll tap into the feed.I’m assuming you have some along the perimeter?”
I nod.There’s plenty of stuff around to ensure no one finds this place and if they do, I could track them easily.
“I didn’t check on my way here,” he adds, almost as an afterthought.Like surveilling my property should be part of the visit.
“So ...”I scrub a hand over my face.“We’re really doing this?”
Cassian glances over at me.“You don’t want to?”
The question hits harder than it should.Not because I don’t want it.But because I didn’t expect him to ask like that.As if my opinion matters, which brings me to ...“You’ve never asked before.”
He exhales, slow, thoughtful.“Maybe we should’ve started there.With the asking and making sure it was what we both wanted rather than assuming.But it felt ...right.Like this thing between us just unfolded, and maybe I didn’t want to break the momentum by asking a question I wasn’t ready to hear the answer to.”He shifts, jaw clenched, eyes unreadable.“Have you been in a poly relationship before?”His voice drops, quieter now.“After us?Or ...with another man?Or a woman?”
I shake my head.“No relationships,” I respond almost immediately.“I slept around.With whoever was convenient at the time.”
His jaw twitches, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“After us,” I continue, voice low, steadying myself on the truth, “I realized I was attracted to men and women.But I didn’t act on it.Not for a long time.”
I glance at him, then at my shoes, because I haven’t talked about this with many people—not even with myself.
“I was still trying to glue together whatever was left of me after you left.No Cassian.No Rachel.Just this ...ache that didn’t know where to land.”I pause, swallowing the knot that’s forming.
“Eventually, I stopped overthinking it.I stopped asking questions—not even the ones I should’ve asked myself.I just went with whatever felt good at the moment.No labels.No expectations.Just ...fucking.Something to fill the space and time when I wasn’t busy.”
A pause stretches between us.
“I’ve been trying like hell not to fall for Delilah.I mean, how the fuck do you not fall for her?She’s sunlight and wildfire.She walks in and everything shifts, and you’re just supposed to act like you’re unaffected?”
I exhale through my nose, the tension knotting somewhere deep in my chest.
“But it’s bad timing.All of this—her, us—it’s beautiful and fucking impossible.It’s too much, too soon, and still not enough.And I don’t want her to get hurt just because she’s here ...and I finally stopped pretending I didn’t need someone to stay.”
He doesn’t blink.Doesn’t breathe.
So I say it—the thing that’s been bleeding through the edges of every thought since we kissed her.Since I saw how she looked at both of us—like she wanted everything but didn’t know if it was safe to take it.
