Page 17 of False Catch

"Liar."

Before I can respond, his mouth crashes into mine.

The kiss is nothing like I expected from quiet, analytical Eli. It's demanding, consuming, his tongue sliding against mine with a dominance that makes my head spin. His hand tangles in my hair, tilting my head to the angle he wants, taking control with an easy authority that sends heat spiraling through my core.

I gasp against his mouth, and he swallows the sound, pressing closer until I'm pinned between his body and the wall. He's all lean muscle and controlled strength, and when he nips at my lower lip, I can't stop the whimper that escapes.

This is Eli - careful, calculating Eli - kissing me like he wants to devour me, like he's been starving for this, like all his control was just a dam waiting to break.

My hands come up to his chest, whether to push him away or pull him closer I don't know. The muscles under my palms flex, and he makes a sound low in his throat that's pure Alpha satisfaction.

Then another scent hits me. Leather and rain.

Jackson.

I jerk back, breaking the kiss. "Stop."

Eli freezes instantly, but doesn't move away. His breathing is ragged, eyes dark with want, but there's something else there too. Understanding. Like he knew this moment would come.

"Jackson," I whisper. "You and Jackson. I can smell him on you."

Something flickers across his face - not guilt, exactly, but acknowledgment. "Yes."

"I won't come between you. I won't be the reason—"

"Reese." He says my name like it means everything. "You won't come between us. You'll be the glue that keeps us from falling apart."

I stare at him, trying to process. "What?"

He steps back slightly, giving me room to breathe but not to run. "Jackson and I... we fuck. Have been for two years. Started as convenience, stress relief. Two Alphas who understood each other without the complications of designation dynamics. He needed the release and the knowledge that it wouldn’t fuck everything up in the process."

"But it's more than that now."

A small smile touches his lips, but there's something raw in it. "Yes."

"And you, Eli? You need...?"

"Him." Simple. Direct. The word carries weight that makes my chest tight.

"But also more," he continues. "Neither of us wants to admit what this became because..." He runs a hand through his hair, the first sign of uncertainty I've seen from him. "Because we both want you, too. And that's not supposed to be possible. Not rational. Not something we can calculate or control."

"Eli—"

"He's been pulling away since you arrived. Not because he doesn't want you, or me, but because he does. And wanting both of us? Wanting something that complicated? After what Meredith did to him?" His jaw tightens. "It's easier for him to shut down than risk that kind of vulnerability again."

My mind races, pieces clicking into place. Jackson's careful distance. The way he and Eli orbit each other without ever quite touching in public. The tension that's more than just friendship, less than what they're both clearly capable of feeling.

"You love him," I say quietly.

"I'm in love with him." The correction is important. "There's a difference between loving someone and being in love with them. I'm both. Have been for a while."

"And he doesn't know?"

"He knows. He just can't say it back. Can't risk it. Not after..." Eli's hands clench. "Meredith broke something in him. Made him believe that feelings make you weak, that wanting makes you vulnerable to manipulation."

"But you stayed."

"Of course I stayed." He looks at me like I'm missing something obvious. "You don't abandon someone just because they can't love you the way you need them to. You wait. You be patient. You show them through actions what words can't fix."