It happened on a Sunday.
The kind of Sunday where nothing felt real. The sun was too bright. The house too quiet. And my stomach twisted with the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.
Jace was in the garage again. Avoiding everyone. Avoiding me.
Since the night he told me someone might know, things had shifted. We still snuck kisses. He still whispered "mine" when no one was around. But the fire had changed.
It wasn't burning.
It was smoldering.
Hidden under the surface, ready to explode.
I was curled up on the couch with my phone, trying to ignore it all, when a text came in.
Unknown Number
I know what you're doing.
My heart stopped.
Another ping.
Unknown Number
Tell your stepbrother I'm not blind. Or maybe I'll tell your mom instead.
I stared at the screen, hands trembling.
Who the hell…?
Another text followed—this time with a photo.
My breath caught.
It was blurry… but unmistakable.
Me. In my room.
Jace standing over me.
His hand in my hair.
My shirt off.
Not full nudity but enough.
Too much.
I scrambled off the couch, chest heaving.
This wasn't just blackmail.
This was war.
I found Jace in the driveway, throwing a basketball against the hoop with so much force it sounded like gunshots.
I didn't speak. I just shoved the phone into his chest.
He looked.
And everything inside him went still.
His jaw clenched. His grip tightened. "Who the fuck…?"
"Exactly," I said.
He scrolled, lips pressed into a thin, hard line. Then he looked up. "You've never sent anyone anything? No pics?"
"No. Never."
"I haven't either. This was taken *here*. In this house."
My stomach turned. "You think it's someone inside?"
"I don't know." He paced, running a hand through his hair. "Could be Avery. Could be a camera. Could be one of your friends"
"Don't."
He stopped. "You don't think anyone you know would do this?"
"Not like this."
He looked back at the phone. "They're watching us."
"So what do we do?"
He looked up slowly. Eyes dark. Cold.
"We burn them before they burn us."
That Night
I couldn't sleep.
Not because I was scared. But because I knew Jace wouldn't rest until he found whoever was threatening us.
And because deep down, I didn't believe this secret could stay buried forever.
When I crept down the stairs for water, I found him sitting on the couch in the dark, staring at the TV screen muted, barely moving.
"You okay?" I asked.
He turned slowly. "No."
I walked over and curled up beside him.
He pulled me into his arms like he'd been waiting
"We're being hunted," Jace said softly. "But I don't regret it."
"Not even a little?"
He shook his head, tightening his grip around me. "I'd do it all again. Every risk. Every lie. Every time I snuck into your room. You're the one thing I don't want to run from."
I looked up at him, and I didn't see the boy who used to tease me over cereal or steal my charger. I saw a man who'd gone too far to turn back.
And I'd followed him.
"Whoever's behind that text," I whispered, "what if they send it to our parents?"
His jaw clenched. "Then I'll tell them it was me. That I manipulated you. That it was all on me."
"No." My voice shook. "I won't let you do that."
"You won't have a choice."
I pressed my palm to his cheek. "Jace, we got into this together. We burn together."
He leaned in, resting his forehead on mine.
"God, I hate how much I love you."
The confession hung in the silence.
Then my breath caught. "Say that again."
His lips brushed mine.
"I love you."
And everything in my chest broke open.
Because I loved him too. In every terrifying, wrong, beautiful way.
I kissed him hard, like that love could protect us. Like it could undo the danger, erase the texts, silence the world.
He pulled me into his lap, hands already sliding under my shirt.
But this time wasn't about lust.
It was about belonging.
He undressed me slowly, reverently, like I was something he'd worshipped from afar.
Then he laid me down on the couch and slid into me, holding my gaze the whole time.
We moved in sync, soft moans and whispered I love yous blending with the sound of our bodies coming together.
There was no rush.
No need to hide.
Just skin and heat and something dangerously close to forever.
And just before we both shattered, he kissed my forehead and whispered:
"We'll find whoever's trying to ruin this."
And I believed him.
Even if it meant destroying everything