“Thanks, Em,” they say in rough unison.
We all grab our mugs at the same time.
“I’m scared,” I say into mine, not bothering to dress it up.
Felix’s gaze snaps to me, warm and earnest. “We are too,” he admits. “But honestly? If we weren’t, I’d worry. You don’t get this kind of… lightning, without exposing yourself to a storm."
“But we live in different worlds,” I say. “I’m in New York. You’re here. You have your lives. I have mine.”
Silas smirks. “Implying we’re too small-town for a big-city lawyer?”
My stomach drops. "Don't even start with that," I say, shooting him a look. "Of course, that's not what I meant. At all. It's just... logistics."
Liam tips his head. “You work for Mia,” he says. “She's in here Lakeview most of the year. That's reason enough to come as often as you want."
“I still can’t build a relationship on sporadic visits.” My chest tightens.
"We could come during off-season," Felix suggests. "You visit when you can, we come to the city. We start slow, see how it develops."
“Even in New York, I’m barely home as I travel constantly for work. You'd be waiting around while I fly to depositions and client meetings… You deserve more than someone squeezing you in."
Silas’s mouth flattens. “Relationships work when people want them to work, even with obstacles. Are you just trying to find reasons to avoid giving this a shot?"
“That’s not what I said.” I press my fingertips to my temple for a second, then drop my hand. “I mean, we barely know each other. Yes, we’re scent matches, but what do we actually have in common besidesreallydigging each other's smell? We’ve had, what, about four days together? And the circumstances were exceptional...”
A beat of silence. Felix's jaw tightens, Silas' expression hardens.
“We seemed to have plenty in common without scents,” Liam says quietly. “We laughed. We teamed up in Monopoly. We had an epic snowball fight… among other things.”
My mouth twists. “I can’t deny that.” I scrub my thumb along the cardboard sleeve of my cup. “But I’ve had… about twenty-four hours of real processing time. That’s not enough to commit to a potential life-altering decision."
Another silence, this one heavier.
“Fine,” Silas says, voice going cool. “Let’s talk business then."
“Yes. The game—”
“We’ll play,” he cuts in.
I blink. “You will?”
“Yes,” Liam says. “All three of us. Full participation."
“Oh.” My hand flies to my chest. “Oh. That’s… that’s amazing. Thank you. You have no idea how much that—”
Silas’s mouth curls, not quite a smile. “That seems like a big weight off your shoulders.”
I wince at the edge in his tone. “It is,” I say honestly. “That’s the whole reason I came to Lakeview in the first place. Making sure you’d play was my job. Now I can… actually turn my attention to everything else on fire.”
“Everything else,” he repeats.
“Yes,” I say slowly. “I have a Seattle franchise meeting in three days. I need to—”
“We get it.” Silas cuts me off. “You have important work. You’re needed in boardrooms, and now that we’ve agreed to play, you can check us off your list. You'll be on a plane today or tomorrow, and Lakeview will just become a quaint little adventure you look back on with fondness.”
“That's not true and—" I stop, heat flaring in my chest. "You know what? What if I do? My job is high stakes. If I screw up, people lose jobs, entire projects fall apart. This isn’t about you.”
“Isn’t it?” Liam’s voice is quiet, but there’s an edge I’ve never heard before. “You go back to sixteen-hour days. ‘I’ll think about this relationship’ turns into ‘maybe when I’m less busy,’ which turns into never” His gaze meets mine, sad.
