“Last month.”
Kai laughs. “You were planning this without us?”
“I was assessing feasibility,” Finn corrects calmly.
Koa nods slowly. “Parking would be an issue.”
“Not if we partner with the marina,” Finn replies. “They’re underutilising evening capacity.”
Sol’s eyes flick between them, something dawning there – not control, not dominance – partnership.
“You’d fund it,” Kai says bluntly.
Finn doesn’t flinch. “I’d invest.”
There’s a difference.
I see it in the way Sol straightens slightly. It isn’t charity. It isn’t saving.
It’s belief.
The conversation shifts into numbers. Timelines. Permits. Renovation schedules. Kai suggesting outrageous names just to derail them. Koa countering with practical objections. Finn quietly dismantling problems before they fully form.
And Sol – not defensive, not territorial – listening.
Adjusting.
Building the ideawiththem instead of alone.
The bond hums faintly beneath my ribs, warm and steady. Not loud. Not fevered.
Steady.
I realise something slowly as I sit there with my hands wrapped around a glass of water, watching them sketch out a future on the back of a napkin.
This isn’t heat. My heat was sharp. Urgent. Consuming.
This isn’t adrenaline either. There’s no edge to it. No desperation.
This is…construction. They’re building something. Together.
And they’re building it with me in the centre, not as something fragile to protect, not as something wild to contain – but as a constant.
I think I did this…I brought them together.
Kai catches me staring.
“What?” he asks, grinning.
“Nothing.”
“Suspicious.”
Koa’s gaze lifts next, steady and perceptive. “You’re quiet.”
“I’m listening.”
“To what?”