(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to Pillow Talk and Paperbacks, the podcast where a husband and wife tackle romantic books one dramatic chapter at a time. I'm Mary Angelica and I'm all in for an epic love story. And I'm Christian here to question every life choice these characters make. We're here for the plot twists, the chaos, and a whole lot of laughs. All after wrangling our three boys to bed and finally claiming the couch for ourselves. So get cozy, grab a book, and let me remind you why none of this makes any sense. Hello again. Hi. Hi. It's your favorite Zayden fan. Oh my god. And Dane hater. Yeah. And today I had a thought and I was like, what if Zayden doesn't make it to the end of this book? No, it wasn't just a thought. Actually, it was a major freak out. Well, hold on a second. It was a freak out. I wasn't like, I just said I will stop reading these books if Zayden dies. Which is a freak out. You can't not finish a book because a character dies. It's an internal freak out. And then like a very manly like man, you know, I'm not doing this thing anymore. That's nice. If he dies. Yeah. So just tell me now. I will not do that. So you can't confirm nor deny. Hi, I'm Mary Angelica. It's Christian. We had a heavy discussion around this book because we were kind of looking at like, what do we have left? Where are we at? How many more episodes technically till we finish the book? And as you know, if you've read the book, what's coming is a lot. So is it? Yeah. Like I said, the next four will be fun to read. And there's like some exciting things happening in those four. But from there on, it's just. I hope so. I feel like for every good chapter, there's like three boring like fluff. They haven't been overly fluff. Come on. There's been a few things. Go back and listen to our own podcast. Hear how much you've liked it. Um, but yes, I know what you're saying, but they've had to do build up, right? Like we have to get to know the characters. We have to care. And we care already. Like they can just if we get to the fight, you know, 20 chapters ago. We're doing a podcast about this. Obviously, we care. Oh, I care. OK, so we're going to cover chapters 22 through 25. Yeah. Yeah, 22 to 25. So we're going to go through as usual. I have read the book and Christian has not. And so he's reading four chapters at a time. And he's highlighted areas in the book that we're going to discuss. And so I'm going to bring these up as we kind of recap parts. And by the way, I need a new highlighter. I'm being serious. There was parts in the book where I just like my highlighter just wasn't working. So I had to just, you know. OK, so let's get into chapter 22. So in this one, we have Violet starting with a lot of frustration around channeling. So what are you feeling for her? She's a late bloomer. She is. Yeah, I am. At this point, like, you know, what is it? Chapter 22 out of 30 something, 38. She should have already gotten her abilities, her signet. I know. So I get it. I get it. And she's in like three quarters of the school. The quarter of it. Her class already has it and she doesn't. Yeah. And, you know, I think one of the things is Taryn specifically is telling her, you're not ready to channel yet, Silver One. So there's a lot of that feeling of like, you know, of a kid who's like, I'm ready. Just give me the responsibility. And then the kind of like this parental figure that's like, yeah, like nobody, like, except for Zayden, I feel like no one believes in her. Like even Taryn chose her. No. But at this point, he's like, he's like, you're a work in progress. Like we have a lot to work on before I truly. I mean, I think it's for her own good, right? Like it's and we found out later in the chapter when they kind of say like, OK, now she's ready. It's almost like they know that there's a lot coming at her with this signet or with this channeling power and they want to protect her. He wants to protect her. So he wants to make sure she's ready to receive what's coming. So yeah, that's my take on it. I mean, you know, he cares about her. Yeah, I'm sure he does. So we get a little bit of Dane showing up up in here. So Dane, you know, is kind of avoiding. Unnecessary. Unnecessary. Dane is unnecessary. So we have their go to the mats. The whole thing here is happening in the training and the sparring sparring gym. And, you know, Rhi and her and Violet are going to, you know, they're sparring. They're there. Dane's kind of like not looking her way. You know, Jack is also there on like some of the other mats. So everybody's sparring and everyone's having some fun here in the sparring gym. Do you feel like this would be a fun because you told me about how brief would be your favorite class? What would you think about the sparring class? The sparring class, it would be fun, but like a very specific time of the day. Like it's got to be right after coffee. But like it has to be before lunchtime because I'm going to get tired by lunchtime. It can't be till in the evening because I'll be super sleepy. So it's like there's a window of like 9.05 to 9.15 maybe in the morning. That sparring gym would be fun. And that's it. Oh, just like a little bit. Yeah, exactly. Just a little bit there. Okay. So we have Zayden and who is it? Is it Bodhi? Who is on the mat? Is it Garrick? Who's on the mat with him? Yeah, Garrick. When they take their shirts off and this girl's like, Oh my God, I've never seen shirtless men. Right? She's like, Listen, I'm just going to take a pause right here. Yeah. Girls, the guys look at women all the time. Women are more than more than like it's acceptable for them to do this, whatever they're doing. They're prepping for the big, you know, games they've got coming up. Well, she needs to focus and they bring that up in the book. It's like, Oh man, like if our life depends on this girl. They might die the next day. Busy looking at shirtless Zayden. Listen, I would be looking, everybody would be looking at shirtless Zayden. And they would fail class. I don't care. One day at a time. You just gotta get what you got that day and that's it. Like get the best out of me that day. Yeah. She kept like just like looking at him and she just couldn't stop. She's just like, she doesn't want to admit it, but she likes him, right? There's an attraction, obviously. So let her have it. Over here. I like this little like you highlighted it here, but it's like they're back and forth with her and Ri on the mat. It's like, you know, he thinks I'm his weakness, but does he help me? And then she like hits and she's like, no, does he train me? No, like she's frustrated. She wants that. She obviously wants it. She's feeling a little bit ignored. Yeah. Yeah. And listen, she is not the only one, you know, looking at the guys. Ri's also getting very much distracted. I feel like Ri sleeps with everybody. So it doesn't surprise me that. No, she welcomes anyone. She welcomes anyone into her world. But Ri's also like, she's a great fighter already. So she's fine. She can spare a few minutes to look at Zayden and Garrick. Vi. Vi doesn't have time for this. She should focus. So Zayden and Garrick have stripped off their shirts and are sparring like their lives depend on it. A blur of kicks, punches, like rippling muscle. Yeah. Everyone's going to be looking. And so, and this is a first for her. Like she's actually never seen him specifically shirtless. And so, you know, she's seen plenty of men before, but not him is what she states here. So this is a big deal for her, right? This is a guy she has an attraction on and he's always been in like tight flight leathers all the time. So, um, okay. So one of the things is, and I know exactly how that body feels on top of mine, just how much power, right? And so it's like, Taryn, like she gets hit and then Taryn is like, serves you right. Like pay attention. You have to be. Have you heard that? It's a snow plow. That is a snow plow. Cause we live in Canada. But I mean, listen, it's getting plowed. Our street never gets plowed. It's like, it's an afterthought always. Yeah. It's like, well, you got some time. What time is it right now? It's like 9 38 PM. We got some time. Let's just swing by their street. Yeah. Well, I'm thankful for the snow plowers out there. Yeah. I appreciate it because honestly, there's so much snow right now. It's wild. Anyways. So that's our workout. That's our, yeah, my workout. That's true. Actually, I do not do that at all. Okay. So, you know, Taryn is lecturing her, like serves you right. You got to focus, like pay attention. Right. Um, you know, Liam, I love Liam, all his little jokes. He's like, stop objectifying our wing leader. Like, I love him so much. I like him. I like him. And that's, it's not good. Cause he'll be killed off in a second. Like he'll be definitely, you know, he'll sacrifice. I think I said it last time that he's going to sacrifice himself to save Zayden. Well, you weren't sure you were like Zayden or is it going to be this? Or is it going to be his sister next? Like you were just like, I've got all the theories. If I've got a thousand theories, one of them is bound to be correct. That's fair. I mean, probably the threesome. I am really happy. The threesome theory was not a thing with you thinking two people and a dragon. My God. You were like, I know exactly what the love triangle is. I get it. Um, okay. So, um, you know, we could just be watching for technique. And then she says, no, I'm not watching for technique. I'm shamelessly wondering how his skin would feel. There we go again. And we're back. We're back. Hi. I need to get ready to get rid of that. I need to move the time on it, obviously, because yeah. Or just remove it from Mondays. Oh, it's not even a Monday. It's a Friday. No, anyways, I don't know my days. Um, okay. Anyways. So at the end of the day, we understand here that we love Liam. You are saying that you think he's going to die in some terrible way, which I think is horrible because he's so nice and so kind. And so funny. What's horrible about it. Nice people die all the time in real life and in books. Listen, um, I do think that I like, what I like about this is that we get a little bit more of that obvious because I think, I feel like she's been trying to avoid it. She hasn't been so outwardly. Like, I can't wait to have his skin on me and have his, his, like, I know how much he like it feels to have his weight on me. And so now she's like, well, she's passed like denial stage. Right. And now she knows she wants him. She's like, it's fine. If people know that I want them. So exactly. Um, and you know, Dane is very much like, if you guys were easily, this easily distracted, we're screwed for the, you know, squad battle. Which I got to say, I will agree with Dane. This is the one time that I'll think that he's in the right. Yeah, no. And I get it. But at the, at the end of the day, you know, he's also like, he's seeing what's happening and he's like, no, no, no, no. Well, now that Amber's gone, she's another, she's toast. Yeah. He needs, uh, he wants to, to get back to, uh, to, to Vi here. So, you know, um, Taryn is very much like, okay, you know, Violet, like actually go for a hit, like stop just defending, go on offense. And she does, but then rain like sweeps her low and like flips her right over. And then Jack comes up. Our friend Jack. And says, well, that is the rider that Taryn chose. What are your thoughts on Jack right now? Well, so I, I don't want to say this, but I feel like he's gonna have a very big role at some point, which makes me sad. Cause I just want him to see him like dead. Um, so he's just obviously he's like, you know, just poking right at the right, you know, buttons, just pushing the right buttons to, to get to Vi. And, um, and he does it and he does it. And he also knows that he's gonna have a chance to kill her. Yeah. Very, very soon. Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that he's like looking forward to. I feel maybe that's why he's like not even trying so hard right now. Cause he says, he's like, why do I have to worry about it right now? I can, I can challenge her in a couple of weeks and just snap her scrawny little neck in front of an audience. And then she lost it. Yeah. Then she was like, hold on, hold up, hold up, hold up. You're the coward. You ran away when I hit you with my blade. Yeah. And so, you know, that's one of the things that like, she's kind of like, you know, I'm the one who buried a dagger in your shoulder. You're the one that ran, like, they're just going back and forth, you know, on this thing and you ran and like kind of just reminding him what he did. He was a coward. He was getting rattled. He got like, you know, pretty quickly. So then they had to kick him out of the gym. Yeah. Well, and first, you know, Dane's like, or for fuck's sakes, Violet, like you're just like rallying him, rallying him up and Zayden's like, well, she's not wrong. Like that's exactly what happened. Right. So yeah, they have this whole thing back and forth. Right. And then they're just yelling and yelling like at each other. And then, yeah, they have to take him out. And then Zayden's like, well, what the fuck are you doing? Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. And that's why, you know, a lot of this, like it's the attention, but it's also frustration that's coming out in this, in this moment, because she's just frustrated. She's like, I've had enough. And, you know, everyone is feeling, making her feel like she is the weak one, every single chance that they get. And so they'll also think that Zayden also thinks she's technically now his like biggest weakness is maybe another thing she doesn't want to keep hearing. Right. There's a lot of things, right? She can't manifest her signet yet. She really wants Zayden, but he's not reciprocating the way she feels right now. I mean, he's not showing it anyway. And then there's Jack, right? Yeah. Who really wants to. And he's pissed off because she's not wearing her, her armor in this moment when she's sparring with Rhi. I mean, she knows Rhi's not going to go for a kill. So she decided to wash it and let it air dry. And he's just, he's like fuming about the fact that she's like unprotected. And she's like, what? Like, I have to like, you know, trust you. And he's like, come on, like, I can't kill you, obviously anymore. So like everyone knows I can't kill you. And she says, well, that doesn't mean you can't hurt me. Aww. You highlighted it. I did. And because I wanted to say, aww. She's obviously referring to the fact. Wow. The commentary is so epic. You should have just written that in there. She means emotionally hurt. Her is what she means. Yeah. Yeah. And I think he gets that because he does say that he kind of like shifts backward a little bit. I think he did feel that in some capacity. And then he just regained his composure. And he's got, then he's giving her some feedback, like stop training with staff, start training with like daggers that are small, like you. So, you know, just and she's just like, whatever. Like she just keeps throwing things at him. And he's like, I am annoyingly aware of everything you do. You know, like, I'm just always thinking about you. And it's another way. It doesn't he doesn't truly make it so obvious in this way. But I think later in the chapters, we find out like it is that way. He has been thinking about her in other ways, too. So. Yeah. Yeah. Any thoughts on that? As we near the end of this chapter. This is one of the chapters where I think it was a bit of fluff. What? Yeah. A hundred percent. Listen, we have we have some. No, no, no. Let me recap. OK, we have a moment here where she she's starting to be very obvious about her feelings for Zayden. We have a moment where we see Zayden be very protective again, now being like, I'm concerned you're not wearing your armor. We have a standoff with Jack. It's not the first time. I feel like everything that you just mentioned, we've already seen it in other chapters. That's a fair point. But it does lead to this moment, right? When Taryn says, you held your own and controlled your temper and then she's ready. And Darna says and. You know, I've read books before where like a chapter is literally a sentence. And I feel like this chapter could have been that sentence. Oh, my God. Just like she's ready. Exactly. But no, she wasn't ready until she went. OK, fine. Jack frustrates Vi. Vi holds her own. And then you're ready. No, no, no, no, no. Listen, get back. Get back to you liking this book. What's 23 all about? 23. I don't know, because my page is not turning. Oh, never mind. This is still 22. Oh, my gosh. This chapter is long. OK, let's. Oh, this one. OK, so this is the whole scene where Taryn and Sigail are getting it on. Well, so, yes. Yeah. Because right after he says, I think you're ready. And Darna agrees, which, by the way, I think I drawn up. I think she like when she poops, she probably poops Skittles. I think Darna and Darna. Yeah, I feel like she's so cute and tiny. So cute, though. Maybe like golden Skittles. Golden Skittles. Yeah. OK, so, yeah, she does get like this rush of energy down her spine. She gets another wave. So it's like she is now channeling. Yeah, she was just minding her own business in her room. And then it's like, oh, ouch. And then it's like, hold on, what am I feeling? What is this rush? What is what is what is happening to me? So it's like power that she feels like is running all through her veins. I don't know. Like, I kind of picture it like the moment where like Spider-Man is like bitten by the spider and you can like see it like the power, like the venom going like all through the veins. And it's like she's kind of like feeling it all at once. That's that's what I feel when I take a bite of a Snickers bar. Like that first bite of a Snickers bar. That's exactly how I feel. What? You are you eat Snicker bars way too much. It's all the time. Not enough. It is so funny. Not enough. To the point even like my mom comes over and has Snickers. Like she's like, I got you a Snickers bar. I know. I told her to like always carry one with her in case I need an emergency Snickers bar. I do not carry an emergency Snickers bar for my husband. That is for sure. Because it wouldn't last. If you knew that I always had it, then it would always be gone. It would be an emergency every night. Okay. So she's like, okay, I'm feeling all these things. Like this is your power, Taryn, right? Taryn is like not talking. He's busy. He's busy right now. He's doing other stuff. Yes, exactly. So and she's, it's almost like a haze. Like this whole scene here, which is kind of like, she feels kind of dizzy and she's like coming out of her room and you know. Liam, poor Liam. It's just, you know, carving little wooden, whatever thing he does in his free time. He's like, I'm just hanging out here in the hallway. Like, yeah, hanging out. He's just like being her protector. It's so cute. Yeah. And then he's like, she's like trying to jump in. She's like, do I want to fuck him? Do I, what do I do? Yeah. But like, but he's not Zayden. So like, that's not the right one. And so she's like, no, no, no. I got to get out of here. Cause she's like about to go like at him and she goes out. She's like trying to breathe through all of Taryn's emotions and like Taryn is not, does not, not block them out. I don't think she's clued in yet at this point. Has she clued in as to what's happening? Well, she just says like, I have to, um, what did she say? She says something like, I have to breathe through the fog of Taryn's emotions. So she kind of knows like all of these stuff that is coming out of her. And it's very powerful. It's Taryn, right? So I have to get away from everyone until Taryn finishes whatever he and Sigail are doing. So yes, she starts to understand what's happening, but she's like, oh, there's no block anywhere. I got to get out of here. She runs out. The air is crisp. She's like, okay, fresh air. I'm on my own. And then Zayden. And then Zayden. What did you think as soon as you saw that Zayden was there? Did you feel like you knew where this is going based on like those emotions? What, what were your thoughts? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the moment that she, she left, I was like, obviously they're going to make her run into Zayden who was probably going through the same thing as her, but it wouldn't be his first time going through it. Right. So he knows how to handle it. Um, and so when she saw him, that was okay. Well, this is the moment where they actually like all this sexual tension, they've been building up all this teasing they keep doing. It's gonna culminate. It's gonna come to an end if you know what I mean, but it doesn't. So he's like, he's smoking by the way. So in the scene, he's smoking something called like churrum or something. It's probably like weed. Is it like a version of, yeah, it must be a version of weed, right? Like that's what I assume. I don't know if this is a real word. I don't know. We don't know it. So we're assuming it's like some sort of, you know, drug that, you know, he says it just like calms you down and like helps a little bit to like distance the connection. Yeah. And she's still like freaking out. She's like, I feel like I'm on fucking fire. Like, like I need, I don't know what to do with myself. Yeah. And, and then she looks at him. She's like, there's nothing I wouldn't sacrifice. Nothing I wouldn't give to have one unguarded moment with this man. I'm going to be tethered with for the rest of our lives. But, but, but he actually chooses not to follow through with this. And instead he's going to teach her how to block out all the emotions. Yeah. And first he's like, where is your bodyguard? Like, where is your bodyguard? Which I think is hilarious, right? He's like, listen, you shouldn't be by yourself. Why are you out here? And then she's like, and he's in bed and he's like, your bed? Like, it's like, his voice is like a crack of lightning. No, not that it should matter to you. Kind of like, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Just do some like playful flirting, you know? Yeah. To see, to see what he gets, you know, she gets out of him. So yes. And he's, then he helps her shield. So what did you think about shielding as a concept? The whole idea of like shielding your mind, like built, like basically he was teaching her to visualize. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. So, I mean, it's all no different than like meditating, right? It's just trying to get yourself in a different headspace. And grounding yourself. Yeah. Sure. And then it's actually kind of interesting because we know that everything she does, she kind of seems to like really stand out and be really good at it. And once again, you know, she starts with this mental exercise that he's given her. And he's like, holy shit, like you did this like faster than anyone I've. Do you have any inkling as to why she did it faster? Oh, that's a great question. I wonder if her signal is going to be something mental, like, like something related with her brain. Okay. Because she's really strong when it comes to her mind. So maybe that's why, because she's got the ability to manifest a signal now. Maybe something to do with that. I don't know. Okay. Yeah. When I read it, I was kind of like, well, this makes sense. Because she has this like pain issue, right? And she's always in pain. So she's had to mentally block out pain. Like her whole life. So she's had to, well, I mean, I'm not saying your theory is wrong. But that's just what I thought in the moment. And I felt like, well, she would be very skilled. She's had to do it all her life to like, just literally separate herself away from the pain. Build a wall around it and be like, I got to get through this. And then I can worry about that pain. And she's had to do it the entire time she's in the quadrant. So, okay. So, and the cool thing about this is that she gets to pick her own kind of visual place to ground in, which becomes the archives in her mind. Right. Which is really neat. Because as we read on the book, like she kind of continues to build on this visual of the archives and what the ceiling looks like. Is there a wall? Now let me make a window to open up a space for this. And like. It's her safe space. Yeah. But it's a way to like access all this stuff, which is so cool. It's her way of also being scribe, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. And so one of the things too is like, you know, what's happening? Like, how often does this happen? She's like, this is going to be a thing all the time. And now I'm going to be feeling all these things. Right. And he's like, listen, like they do it. Yeah. And. How often though? Does he say, he says often enough that you're going to need to properly shield. Is that like normal for dragons? Who knows? But they are a mated pair. So, you know, then they're in their happy place. Consenting adults. What else do they have to do? Like. Eat. Be grumpy. Fly. Like. Yeah. Sounds like a pretty chill life. It does. Well, they have Undarna to take care of. And they have to go to battle too sometimes. I guess so. I guess so. Yeah. So they put Undarna to sleep already. Like they put her to bed. It's like, let's make sure she's not waking up. And then. And then go and be busy. But where do they do that though? In a field? I guess so. They have like the whole, what is it called? Like the Vale. Where all of them are in. But I assume there's like caves and. How big are these fucking caves? Big. Tyrion is massive. They probably just do it in front of everyone. Probably. Because you can't possibly fit that guy in a fucking cave. So they can imagine that it's like a swinger's cruise. Oh my gosh. The whole Vale is a swinger's cruise with dragons. And they just get to have. And sometimes other people. Dragons join. Or people. And there's my. It goes back to my threesome. This is going way too far. This is going way too far. That is hilarious. No, I mean, I assume they have their privacy. They're a pair. It's not a. Otherwise, then everyone would be mated. But they don't have a house, Maria. They don't live in a house with a door. For everyone who doesn't know me. My name is Maria Angelica. Anyways. So what can I say? Oh, and so then they're like, they go back and forth. And now there's a bunch of teasing happening, right? So it's like, you know, ask me nicely violence or I'm gone. What can I say? I like making you squirm, right? Like all of these things are happening. There's a lot of little flirting. Yeah, so he's like, let's not go all the way. But like, we can have sort of this like playful. Yeah, like flirting back and forth. Yeah. And that's that is one of the things that you mentioned. Like he says, he's wowed by how fast she's able to shield, right? Like I couldn't do that for weeks. So that's something he couldn't do for a long time. And he, you know, he's looking at her. He's like starts to stroke her face, like with his thumb. And he says, damn it. Touching you was a bad idea. Yeah. You know, he wants it to. You cannot understand when I was reading this book. I'm pretty sure it was like 1 a.m. And everybody knows that when you're like reading and then this scene starts to happen. It's like the enemies to lovers finally like come together. Oh, it's like you get another wind of energy. What's the sentence again? The sentence was, damn it. Touching you was a bad idea. Okay. I'll remember that later. Please bookmark that in your brain. Okay. Like you were just so moved that you're just like, oh, it's an alarm on my phone. Like midnight. Damn it. Touching you was a bad idea. Listen, you never, you don't even know. There's actually a thing going around right now. There's like a, what is that called? Like a trend. Okay. Where women read these books are asking their husbands or partners to do one of the scenes. Like, so for example, like it'll be like he put his arm like on the wall behind me and push me back or something like that. It's so, I have to show you a few of them. They're very funny. Tell me what your favorite one is. We need to get a different colored highlighter. Actually, they, they also have these little tabs that come out that you kind of like anecdote, like, you know, different pages, but then you can use like red ones for those kinds of scenes and like, you know, different colors for different scenes. Gotcha. Okay. All right. Maybe we'll do it with the next book. Good to know. Kissing you would be a, what is it? A cataclysmic mistake. Doesn't matter. Like a bad, like, you know. Terrible, terrible. Yeah. We'll both regret it. So it's like this whole thing, right? Where they're both like getting closer. They're both gonna regret it. We want it. And then they're kissing. I know. I know. How did you think about this scene? It's like finally all this release and they're just like, oh my God, they're like all over each other. She's like against the wall, all the things. Yeah. No, it was, it was, it was, um, it was a good one. It was a good one. Was it fun to read? Yeah, it was, it was, it was fine, fine to read, but I really was expecting to go all the way. Okay. That's fair. But I will ask, have you ever read a scene like this in a book? Like do I, I don't even know if any of your books ever have scenes like this, the books that you like to read? You don't read a ton of fiction, so. No. Yeah. No, I haven't seen anything. So this was kind of like first kind of. Yeah. Like I've never read a book with this sort of tension. Yeah, exactly. So it was, it was a first for me. So I was left wanting, you know. That's fair. Look at that. See, they left you wanting more. So that then, see, this is the whole thing. You have to feel the emotions Violet felt. She probably also would have loved it if it went all the way. Right. And like, I think at this point, you know, Zayden's very much like kind of pulls away. Like this is kind of enough right now. Like, and it's, it basically says like. I think it's waiting until marriage. I refuse to, I refuse to act on desire that isn't yours because you understand it's basically like having sex with someone who's drunk. Yeah. She's like drunk on sex right now because of Taryn's situation with Seguil. And, and what a gentleman. And she's like, but I want everything. And then he says, uh, this isn't your want. So let's just have a little. Not like right this second. And then he says, so just have a little mercy on me and go. Is that what he said to her? Yeah. Like, he's like, this isn't your want. He tells his head up at the sky. That's the fucking problem. And I can't leave you out here on your own. So have just a little mercy on me and go. Yeah. Okay. He would have wanted to go all the way, you know, and she says, yeah, that he stopped for each other. So like, but it's just like, so anyway, as you said, you're like, it left me wanting more. Like, that's exactly how you want to feel because that's how you want to feel in the book as a reader, because you know, I've got zero willpower when I want something. It's like, I want it now. I want that instant gratification. I don't want to keep waiting for it. Yeah. And if y'all are thinking this is about anything other than Snickers or burgers, it's not. It's about Snickers and burgers. This man cannot watch one advertisement because. I am like the perfect consumer. You are the perfect consumer. I really, really am. Good thing I didn't like get into like anything. Please do not talk about the ridiculous thing that is right now in a box in the kitchen. In a box in the kitchen. Ooh, this, I can't, it's, it's not an ad. I promise. I wish it was an ad. I just said it's a stupid thing in a box. I'm sure this is not an ad. What she means is skylight. If you're listening, we'd love a second skylight calendar. I am, I'm not convinced whatsoever, but you know, he saw enough of the ads and he's like. 120 day money back guarantee. Everyone's life is so organized because of this thing. And I'm like, that's not going to help us. This is not going to help us. But you know. Yes. And that's because I had an impulse and I was like, I want this thing. And so I got it. And I'm not saying it's a good trait. It is not. It's not. It's not. Sometimes it is, but not right now. No, no, no. Okay. So what's going on? Let's go back to the book here. That's it. Just like they just, you know, she says they didn't stop just for making a huge mistake. Tomorrow's going to suck. So this is the very first time we finally have this kind of interaction. We feel the tension of everything kind of coming undone in this moment. And we have all this like new found connection. We have, he's taught her about shielding. You know, they have this like support for one another in this way of like, they're both feeling these emotions from the dragons. And at the same time, you could tell both of them had emotions of their own. They just didn't go all the way. Yeah. And then 23, no sex. The most, you definitely thought there was way more sex in this book. I really, really, I really thought there was. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, I mean, I started from tension. I don't know why this, I mean, romanticy, like, I don't know. I think what, what I think I tried to explain is in a different episode, but it's like for, and I'm going to speak for myself in this case, I'm not going to generalize for everyone. But the, the act, like the, the tension is that like desire that we, that it's like the slow burn and the slow burn makes everything so much better. Right. It's like anything. It's like torture. That's what it is. No, it's like, it's like a very long form of like reading a book of foreplay. And they're like,