Silas snorts. “I'm not.”
"Don't be emo." Felix heads back toward the ice, dragging Silas with him.
I strap my glove back on and follow them. We run drills for another hour, pushing ourselves past exhaustion.
But underneath it all, that restless energy remains. The knowledge that we can't go back to how things were before Naomi walked into our lives.
But at least we're not giving up.
Chapter twenty-one
Naomi
Lakeview feels big.
Just this morning I was snowed in. Now I'm walking down Main Street under the stars, dressed in my wool coat, black dress, and heeled boots.
Mia links our arms as we cross the street. “Almost there,” she says, voice soft.
She steers us toward a brick storefront with fogged windows and a swinging sign that saysMerry Sweet Chocolate.
The bell over the door chimes when we step inside.
Heat hits first, then scent, chocolate, cinnamon, sugar… maybe the ghost of peppermint. Exposed brick walls are draped with evergreen garlands and fairy lights. A tiny Christmas tree blinks in the corner, fake presents tucked underneath.
We step up to the counter. The barista, a teenager in a too-big Santa hat, beams at us. “Hey! What can I get you?”
“Two house hot chocolates,” Mia says, then glances at me. “They’re basically a sweet hug in a mug. Trust me.”
Right now, that sounds like exactly my speed. I nod.
We pay, move aside, wait while a machine hisses. The barista lines up two enormous mugs, drowns them in whipped cream, dusts them with cinnamon, then calls our names.
Mia picks them up and tips her chin toward the back. “Corner table?”
I follow her through the cozy chaos to a small table tucked against the wall. I sink into a green velvet chair, the cushion swallowing me up a little; Mia drops into the one opposite.
We set our coats on the backs of our chairs. Steam curls up between us.
“So,” Mia says after a beat, fingers wrapping around her reindeer mug. “Tell me what happened.”
My mug is covered in skiing penguins with tiny scarves. I take a sip to stall. The chocolate is rich and dark and just yummy.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say.
“Anywhere,” she says quietly. “You’ve been snowed in with three alphas for almost four full days.” Her brows lift the tiniest bit. “Somethingmusthave happened.”
A slightly hysterical laugh slips out. “That’s… one way of putting it.”
Another sip buys me a few seconds.
“So I had a panic attack,” I say finally. “Right when it sank in that I couldn’t just… leave.”
Mia’s expression softens. “Oh, Naomi.”
“They helped,” I say. “Well, Felix did most of the talking-me-down part. And then we were just… there. Together. No escape route, no phones, nothing else to do. We cooked. Played Monopoly. Drank whiskey. Went sledding.” My chest tightens. “And then we… slept together. All of us. It was—” I let out a breath. “Really good. Way too good.”
Her chair squeaks as she bolts upright. “Oh myGod—”
