Elliott squeezed my thigh gently. “Me too.”
She studied us a moment longer, then gave a small nod and disappeared down the hall.
I met Elliott’s gaze. There was something behind it—a flicker of anticipation laced beneath his calm exterior. His version of excitement. And inside me, something wild and eager stirred in response.
“You sure?” I asked him, one last time.
He gave me that broad, gorgeous smile. “Yes.”
I exhaled, still a bundle of nerves and adrenaline. “Let’s go,” I said, rising with him.
The hot tub was already bubbling when we stepped out onto the back deck, steam rising into the cold air. The world was silent around us—just pine trees, snow piling on the railing, and the sound of jets cutting through the stillness.
I tugged a towel around myself as I stepped barefoot across the deck, the wood icy beneath my feet. Jack was already submerged, his arms stretched along the ledge behind him, grinning like the king of some winter kingdom.
If he wasn’t so attractive and charming, his smugness would be annoying. But somehow, it worked for him.
“You all are late,” he said playfully, his hair already damp.
“Some of us needed a minute,” Hana replied, lowering herself slowly into the water. “It’s freezing.”
“You’ll warm up quick,” Jack promised with a smirk.
Elliott took my hand, guiding me up the steps as I dropped my towel, shivering slightly in my bikini as I stepped in and lowered myself. The heat hit me instantly as I eased in. Elliott joined me, then slipped an arm around my shoulder, his hand rubbing slow circles on my skin.
Jack and Hana sat across from us, their bodies close together, his hand lost somewhere underneath the water. No one said much at first. The air was thick with that same charged energy, like we were all waiting for someone else to say the thing first, to push the boundary yet again.
I stole a glance at Jack. He had his eyes on me—assessing, teasing, like he knew I was still warming up to the idea of how far this weekend could really go.
“So,” he finally said casually. “How’s everyone feeling after the big meeting?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean the totally professional sex treaty we signed this afternoon?”
“That one,” he said, laughing. “Just checking in.”
“I feel good,” Hana said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Relaxed.”
Elliott gave a low hum of agreement beside me. “Same.”
Jack looked at me. “And you, sweetheart?”
I took a breath, felt the way Elliott’s thumb was tracing the line of my collarbone. I met Jack’s gaze and gave a slow smile. “Ask me again in a few hours.”
He grinned, like I was challenging him. “Fair enough.”
The silence after that was thick, but not awkward. Just slow, tension simmering.
Beneath the water, I stretched my foot out and it bumped into Hana’s. Neither of us moved away as she smiled at me, that crooked one that made my heart flutter a little.
Jack shifted in the water, moving just slightly closer to me. It could’ve been casual—adjusting for comfort, sliding to where the jets hit better—but then his arm brushed against mine beneath the surface, and it didn’t move away.
I stayed still for a moment, deciding what to do; then, I let my knee drift in his direction, our skin brushing in the water in a way that made me acutely aware of how little space there was between us now.
For some reason, this made me more nervous than before. Was it because last time it was in the heat of the moment, and now we had all talked about it, anticipated it?
Across from me, Hana mirrored the move. She floated closer to Elliott, so close now her shoulder nearly rested against his chest. She smiled softly at something he said, something I couldn’t quite hear over the jets, and then reached up to smooth her wet hair back, moving it to the side of her neck. Elliott didn’t even try to hide the way his eyes followed the motion.
Jack’s voice pulled me back, his tone low and casual as always. “How are you feelingnow, love?”
