Tristan sat down on the sofa and tugged on my hand, waiting for me to join him.
“This is awkward,” I murmured. “Pretending like nothing happened.”
His jaw tightened. “Yep.” Then, he pulled me down beside him, adjusting until my cheek rested against his chest, his heart beat steady and strong beneath my ear.
“Can you see the TV like this?”
I snorted. “It’s a little weird, cuddling so close in public after everything.”
“You’re mine again.” His voice was rough. “And I’m so fucking proud to be yours.”
Cole walked in just in time to hear it, and he flinched.Fuck.I hated the pain that flashed through his eyes and hated the smile he used to hide it.
“Cole—” I started.
“I’ll get you something to eat.” He was already backing toward the kitchen, putting distance between us.
“Wait.”
He froze.
My mouth was dry. God, this was so scary, because if I gave Cole an inch, he would take a fucking mile. Tristan’sarm tightened around my shoulders, but he remained silent, letting me make this choice.
And yet.
“Join us?” The words came out shakier than I intended.
Cole stared at me like I’d spoken in tongues. “Join you?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Eva, you don’t have to?—”
“I’m asking you to sit with us, Cole. Are you going to make me beg?”
The fake smile disappeared, replaced by a raw vulnerability he usually hid behind swagger and sharpness. And then it turned into a real smirk. “If the shoe fits?—”
Tristan threw a pillow at him, and he laughed, the sound so fucking genuine, I wanted to hug him.
“Let me get you something to eat first?”
I nodded, and the smile that spread across his face was real this time—like the sun breaking through a storm. He disappeared into the kitchen, and Tristan relaxed against me.
“Thank you,” Tristan murmured into my hair.
I laughed shortly. “Don’t thank me yet. This could still end in disaster.”
My phone buzzed again and again.
“Do you want to get that?” Tristan asked.
I shook my head. “I know what it is.”
“Carter,” he muttered against my hair.
Cole returned with a plate loaded with pretzels, cheese, grapes, and the low-sodium crackers I was supposed to be eating instead of the good stuff. I couldn’t quite hate the warmth in my chest from the fact that he’d remembered, or my surprise that someone had stocked their kitchen with them. He picked up my feet and settled them in his lap before draping a blanket over my legs.
Tristan maneuvered me until he was lounging in the corner, and I was on my side, with the plate sitting on his thick thighs.