Reid understands. I see it the second our eyes meet. Something in him eases.
“Thank you,” he says quietly. “This place… it’s exactly what I needed.”
I nod. If this helps him carry things a little lighter, it’s worth it.
Luke wouldn’t get it.
But Reid… Reid carries too much.
We won’t be whole until he sets some of it down.
“It’s part of my family’s land,” I add. “Been ours for generations.”
“It’s very special,” Sierra says. “Thank you for bringing us here.”
I shake my head slightly.
“It was mine.”
“What?” Luke frowns.
“It’s ours now,” I say. “All four of us.”
Sierra studies me for a moment.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She holds my gaze, then nods slowly.
“Yes,” she says. “Ours.”
Then her expression shifts—lighter now, brighter.
“I think we should all go for a swim,” she says—and then she pulls her shirt off, just like that, scrambling every coherent thought I have. “Well, boys?”
By the time I get my shirt off, she’s already stripped the rest of the way, stepping carefully over the rocks.
“God… that’s cold,” she laughs, dipping a foot into the water.
Sunlight glints off the surface, scattering like diamonds.
I’m struggling to breathe.
Luke’s gone still.
Reid’s gaze darkens.
None of us move as she steps out onto a rock, standing there completely bare, light tracing every line of her body.
Then she winks—and dives.
We look at each other.
Then we move.
Clothes gone. Into the water after her.