“We good?” he asked, nodding at the rest of our crew.
“Always,” I answered flat.
Chase glanced between us but directed his question to Theo. “Find out anything?”
Theo met my gaze. “Tori says Elise is pissed. Wants Mila gone. Says she thinks Mila’s stepping on her turf. Nothing we didn’t already know.”
Jax scoffed. “Pretty sure Elise’s turf stops at her dad’s wallet. It doesn’t stretch to the rink.”
“No,” I said, voice tight.
Theo grabbed a beer and cracked it open. “She’s under the impression you two are getting back together.”
“Whatever she thought we had—it was nothing. If she made it into more, that’s on her.” My words were met with nods.
“You sure she won’t try something?” Jax leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Not just rumors. Real shit—what could’ve gone down tonight if you hadn’t intervened?”
Across the clearing, Elise stood with Nina and Tori near the makeshift drinks table, her arms crossed and her posture rigid. Firelight danced across her expression, but it did nothing to soften the sharp set of her jaw. Her gaze locked on us—on me—with a quiet fury that promised she wasn’t done. But she didn’t move closer. None of them did. This part of the party was ours, and they weren’t invited.
I met Jax’s stare. “Elise is jealous. Narcissistic. But after tonight, she should be smart enough not to mess with Mila in the same way again.”
A flicker of doubt crossed Jax’s face. Not about Elise—about me and Mila, and the way everything was shifting. Protection. Possession. The line between them was razor-thin, and he knew it. His gaze drifted to Avery, where she sat laughing with Jasmine, as if this night hadn’t split anything open.
Chase’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.
I watched Jax’s face shift—the way he looked at Avery, the hesitation in his posture. How he seemed to soften whenever he sought her out, yet not once had he made a move. When he did, things would be dicey.
I shifted on the log. The fire crackled. My chest tightened. Because despite everything—Elise’s bullshit, our tangled past, the secrets that jammed between us—I couldn’t ignore how raw I felt about Mila.
Protect her.That part came easy. Instinctive. The rest—what I felt when she looked at me as if she still knew me, as if the past hadn’t scorched everything between us—that was harder to ignore. I didn’t trust her. I might never again. But I still craved her in a way that made everything else feel peripheral.
“Elise is smart. Strategic.” I kept my voice loud enough for only us to hear. “She’s already used Logan as her puppet to get to Mila. We need to keep an eye out for anything else she could try.”
Jax rubbed his chin. “So we keep our eyes open. Make an example if needed.”
“Exactly,” I said, still staring into the fire. “Anyone lays a hand on Mila again, they’ll feel it.”
A beat passed. Just the fire crackling, the low bass of music humming across the yard.
Chase shifted. “So what’s the plan? You bringing her back in? Like before?”
“No.” I kept my voice even. “Not like before.”
Theo’s brow rose. “But she’s under our protection?”
“She is,” I said. “No one touches her. But she doesn’t get my trust back. Not after she left.”
Jax leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “So she’s not one of us… but no one else touches her either.”
“Exactly.”
Chase gave me a look. “You really think you can keep that line clean?”
I didn’t answer right away. Because no—there was nothing simple about this. “I’ll handle it,” I growled. “Whatever this is, it’s mine to carry.”
Jax clapped a hand on my shoulder, solid and wordless.
Silence stretched again, until Jax cut through it, eyes glinting. “So what now?”
