The garage smelled like smoke and victory.
Colossus kept his arm around me as we walked back toward the main building, his thumb tracing lazy circles on my hip like he couldn’t stop touching me now that he’d started. The club was buzzing — brothers laughing too loud, the kind of relief that comes after surviving another night. But my phone was still in my pocket, heavy with the weight of everything I hadn’t answered.
“You were incredible back there,” he said quietly, just for me. His voice had that post-fight rasp, low and warm. “Didn’t flinch. Didn’t run. You stood there like you belonged.”
I bumped my shoulder against his side — which was basically like bumping into a brick wall. “I do belong. And you didn’t go full monster. You held back. I’m proud of you, mountain man.”
He stopped
