He kissed me slow and certain, like the words had only made what we already knew impossible to deny.
The rest blurred into sensation. Heat. Breath. The steady rhythm of us finding each other without fear or hesitation. My nails dragged lightly across his back, and he exhaled my name like it meant more than anything else in the room.
There was only us.
When it was over, we stayed tangled together. My head rested against his chest, his heartbeat strong and steady beneath my ear. His fingers traced lazy circles along my spine.
Outside, the music had faded. The house had quieted.
His hand tightened slightly in my hair.
“You okay?” he asked again, softer this time.
I smiled against his skin. “Yeah.” And this time, there was no shadow behind it.
His breathing slowed. Mine followed.
The mountain air slipped through a crack in the window, cool against overheated skin.
I drifted first.
Just before sleep took me completely, I felt him shift slightly beneath me. A pause. Then the faint glow of light against the ceiling. His phone.
He didn’t move away. Didn’t reach for it immediately. But I felt the change in him anyway. Even half asleep. Even safe. And somewhere deep inside me, I knew—peace never came without someone trying to take it back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LUKE
Theo’s family house sat high enough into the trees that Blackwood felt another world away instead of forty minutes. Music blasted through outdoor speakers, and our second night here eased something in me. Theo had control of the playlist, which meant it shifted from throwback rap to something obnoxiously pop. Jax manned the grill on the back patio with a level of focus he usually reserved for facing opponents on the ice. Chase stood beside him, arguing about seasoning ratios as if the fate of the world depended on steak.
Avery had kicked off her shoes and taken over the kitchen island, passing out drinks and barking orders neither of them listened to. Tori hovered near Theo at first, uncertain, then eased into it with a confidence that hadn’t been there before.
Integration. No factions. No sides.
Mila stood near the sliding glass doors, hair loose down her back, laughter slipping out of her unfiltered and happy.
I leaned against the deck railing and watched her. She caught me staring.
“What?” she called over the music.
“Nothing.” A lie. Looking at her was a drug. She waseverything, all I wanted and envisioned. I was drawn to her. I always would be.
She rolled her eyes and crossed the deck toward me, setting her drink on a table on her way. Her shoulder brushed mine when she reached the railing. Casual. Intentional.
“You’re brooding,” she accused.
“I’m relaxing.”
“That’s not your natural state.”
I huffed a quiet laugh. She wasn’t wrong.
Behind us, Theo whooped when Avery smacked his arm for stealing a piece of grilled chicken. Jax intercepted before Theo could retaliate, lifting him clean off the ground and setting him back a few feet away from the food.
“Children,” Chase muttered.
It was all… normal. The word felt foreign.