“About Reid being in love with you?”
I hesitate, then nod. I don’t know if I’d call it love. That word feels too big, too final, too loaded with everything we haven’t unpacked yet. But I don’t have a better one either.
“It doesn’t bother you, right?” I ask quietly. “That I’m thinking about him?”
Luke grins, completely unbothered, then leans in close, his voice dropping. “Baby, after the way you sucked me dry last night, I don’t think anything could bother me right now, even if it tried.”
Heat curls low in my stomach despite myself, and I smile, shaking my head slightly.
“You’re back!”
Key’s voice cuts through everything as he barrels down the stairs toward us. “Oh my gosh, you won’t believe the dream I had. A terrible premonition. I saw the three of you getting into some kind of accident, all your cars smashing into each other, bodies everywhere, and the only way the doctors could save you was by sewing you all together like in that movie, The Perfection.”
Luke and I just stare at him.
Key sighs dramatically. “Anyway, I’m so glad that didn’t happen.”
“Just how much did you smoke last night?” Luke asks dryly.
“Not much,” Key replies, waving a hand. “I just get fanciful during big storms. Anyway, glad you’re back. Did anything special happen last night?”
Luke and I exchange a quick glance and shake our heads in perfect unison.
“What about here?” I ask. “Did anything happen to you?”
“Not really. It was pretty quiet. We spent most of the morning gossiping about you four.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Well, I told them about my premonition, but they didn’t take it seriously. A few of them thought you guys were just hooking up at a hotel or something.”
My jaw drops. Luke’s breath catches beside me.
Key watches us for a beat, then bursts out laughing.
“I’m kidding!” he says. “Mostly. They figured it was just you two and Talon doing the fucking. We all know Saint Reid’s a monk.” He clicks his tongue. “Anyway, if the three of you were—hypothetically—engaging in such activities, I would just like to say… details. Please. Purely for educational purposes. I’ve never had a threesome, and I’ve always wondered about the logistics?—”
“Okay, Key,” Luke cuts in, grabbing the thread before it spirals. “How about you let us get inside so Sierra can rest?”
“Oh, sure. Of course. Here, let me help.”
He reaches for my duffel bag, but Luke lifts it easily out of reach, and Key ends up hopping after it like a determined child.
They keep it up all the way to my room, laughing and bickering, until Luke suddenly stops.
“What are those?” he asks, pointing at the neatly arranged envelopes on my bed.
I freeze for a second. “Oh. It’s nothing.”
Too late. He’s already picking one up, unfolding it. “Is this a letter?”
My cheeks heat.
“Hey, there’s one for me too,” Key says, grabbing his. “How cute!”
“I just—” I start, scrambling a little. “I thought if I was leaving without saying goodbye, I should at least do it properly. In writing.”
Luke’s gaze lifts from the page to meet mine. The smirk is still there, but there’s something hotter underneath it now, something that makes my breath catch. If Key wasn’t standing right there, I know exactly what he’d do.