“What I heard you say is that you need more attention from me. Tell me more,” I say.

She draws a circle over my chest. “I want to feel like I’m the most important thing in your life. I want to come home from work to find you excited to see me. I want you to want to kiss me. Hug me. Touch me other than when it’s for sex.” Her eyes lift to mine. “I want to know that if I were to walk out that door, walk away from this relationship, that you would know it was the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Pips, I already know that. That’s why I’m here.”

“Repeat what she said,” Sanders says as he takes a seat on the arm of the couch, moving in on us.

“What I heard you say is that you want to know that you’re the most important thing in my life. You are. That you want me to want to kiss you, hug you, touch you. I fucking do, Pips.” I run my hands up and down her sides. “And if you walked out that door, ending us, I would be devastated. Tell me more.”

Her hands slide to my neck as she says, “I don’t want you to hide. I want to know everything about you. The good and the bad.”

“What I heard you say is that you want to know everything about me, the good and the bad. And I want to tell you, Pips. I really fucking do.”

My mouth goes dry as those words hit me harder than I expected, because fuck, I’ve been shouldering so much ever since my father passed away. I’ve been holding my mom’s secrets close to my chest. I’ve been taking care of Mika, making sure he stays mentally healthy. I’ve been making sure that as a family unit, we don’t fall apart. And…and it’s tiring.

“Great,” Sanders says, bouncing the ball and startling the both of us out of the trance we were just in. “This was exceptional. Wilder, you want to be needed. Scottie, you want to feel special. Have you told each other this before?”

I shake my head. “No, we haven’t told each other that.”