Rigby rolled onto his back and looked up at me. His body was long and strong, and it almost felt illegal for anyone to look that good. My eyes drifted to the small sliver of skin peeking out from just above his sweats, making me swallow harder than normal.

Not to mention the way his sweats bulged in a certain area. Nope. Was definitely not looking at that.

Why couldn’t Huey’s rich uncles be ugly as hell? Sweet, average-looking guys who didn’t make me question everything all the time. Not temptation on a stick. Or on a rug, as it would seem.

I looked down at my nails, like they were suddenly so interesting. I also ignored the low chuckle that echoed around the nursery.

“Nova?”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Mmm?”

“Devan told me what he said today. That was wrong of him.”

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t. It hurt so much because he was right.”

Rigby growled softly, sitting up. “I’m going to hug you now.” That was all the warning I got before he dragged me across the rug and between his thighs, his arms wrapping around me until my head was tucked under his chin.

I breathed deeply, because I needed this. I shouldn’t, and it was probably giving him all sorts of wrong impressions. Well, right impressions, but not ones I could act upon.

His hand stroked up and down my spine. “Poking at someone's pain to make a point is wrong, Nova. Whether the underlying message is right or not doesn’t matter.” He rested his cheek on the top of my head. “Do you want to talk about them? Or the accident?”

I shook my head. It was too soon. I was still running from the pain.

“I’m here if you do. Or if you just need a hug. Devan says that touch is my love language, and those two surly fuckers needed it more than anyone I’d ever met. When we first met, they used to flinch whenever I even patted them on the back. They were so unused to anyone showing any kind of affection, let alone physical affection. Alana helped, but she was just as damaged as they were, maybe even worse. Her childhood was… traumatizing. There was a reason the guys were so protective of her their entire lives.” He snuggled into my hair, inhaling deeply.

I knew this should feel weird. Deep down, I knew I should break the contact and move away. But I couldn’t force myself to do it. He was right; I needed this. My body craved it. It was so fucking nice, just to be in the shelter of the arms of someone bigger and stronger than me.

He sighed against my hair. “This is nice. I think maybe I needed this, too.”