“Maybe that’s why you like it so much,” he countered, his voice softening. “Maybe you’re tired of being in control all the time. Maybe you need someone who sees through the bullshit, who knows exactly who you are beneath the expensive clothes and the overachiever, workaholic tendencies.”
I swallowed hard, unable to deny the truth in his words. “And who am I, Eli? Who do you see when you look at me?”
“The same person I’ve always seen. That wild boy who always had a wicked plan, who climbed trees too high and jumped into the lake from cliffs your moms warned you to avoid. The friend who knew all my secrets and held them close. The man who bared his heart to me in a last-ditch effort to get me to follow him, even though he knew I couldn’t. The man who sometimes just needs to be held.”
My cheeks were red-hot as I stared up at him. “All that?”
“Well, and who definitely needs to be fucked like a whore.” He let go of my hand and gave my ass a light slap.
“And Mioko?” I asked, glancing at her sleeping face.
Eli’s gaze followed mine, his expression thoughtful. “I don’t know yet. But I know she calls us on our bullshit and fills spaces neither of us knew were empty.”
I liked that idea, and I shifted carefully, snuggling closer to Mioko’s softness while my free hand settled on Eli’s bare chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart beneath my palm. His fingers tightened around my ass, making me squirm a little.
Mioko stirred slightly between us, her eyes fluttering open for a moment. “You two talk too much,” she murmured sleepily. “Shut up and sleep.”
“So you’re staying?” Eli asked.
“Of course I’m staying. I fill spaces neither of you knew were empty.”
Eli and I exchanged surprised glances over her head, then broke into matching grins. Without another word, we settled in closer, our bodies forming a protective cocoon around her smaller frame. As my eyes drifted shut, with Eli’s hand gripping my body like I was a lifeline—or someone he wanted to fuck like a whore—maybe both. I felt something click into place, like the final tumbler in a lock falling home, opening a door I’d thought forever closed.
I was exactly where I needed to be, with exactly who I needed to be with. For once, I didn’t need to analyze it, plan it, or control it. I just needed to be in it, fully and completely.
There was no returning to Boston.
Chapter 14
Eli
I woke slowly, warmand tangled in more limbs than seemed possible. Mioko’s soft curves pressed against my side, her dark hair spilling across my bare skin, and Luke was on his stomach beside her, a long leg thrown over both our hips, his arm sprawled across her, hand resting on my chest.
For a moment, I lay perfectly still, afraid to shatter the spell. I’d never felt so fucking content in my life, and that terrified me more than anything.
I carefully extracted myself from the tangle of bodies, pausing when Luke made a soft sound in his sleep, his hand reaching blindly for me, then settling on the softness of her ass as she curled into his chest.
Luke’s face was softer in sleep, the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones gentled by vulnerability. His sandy hair was a mess, sticking up in all directions, so different from the carefully styled perfection he maintained when awake. Mioko looked impossibly small next to him, her dark lashes casting shadows on her cheeks, one hand curled loosely against Luke’s chest. They looked right together, beautiful in a way that filled me with a fierce protectiveness.
Could this work? The three of us, not just for a night of wild fucking, but for something real and lasting? The thought sent equal parts hope and terror surging through my veins. I’d never been good at keeping people—my parents died when I was too young to remember them, and Luke had left me before. What if I fucked this up too?
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the creeping anxiety. I couldn’t stand here all day watching them sleep like a stalker.
I found an old pen and paper in the kitchen drawer and scribbled a quick note: “Checking on Henry. Shower if I’m not back before you wake, and clean everywhere. Back soon with food. - E.” After a moment’s hesitation, I added: “P.S. Don’t even think about leaving.”
I left the note on the nightstand, then quickly washed up and dressed, before slipping out via the exterior door in the office. Mioko hadn’t checked that door, though it had been unlocked the whole time. She must not have been that desperate to leave.
The world outside was transformed, blanketed in eight inches of fresh snow that glittered in the morning sun. I pulled my phone from my pocket, checking messages as I trudged through the pristine white toward the inn’s main building. There were two texts from the snow removal company confirming they were on their way, and one from Henry asking if he needed to send a rescue party.
It would take at least an hour to run the snowblower over all the paths and the porch, but I decided to do it after checking in with Henry.
The inn’s back door led directly to the kitchen, where the warmth and smell of Henry’s cooking wrapped around me like a hug. He stood at the stove, flipping pancakes with the ease of a man who’d been making the same breakfast for decades. Through the kitchen door, I could see half a dozen guests at the large farmhouse table in the breakfast room, pouring coffee and grabbing pastries from the buffet.
“Eli! I thought you’d frozen to death in that drafty old garage,” my grandfather said.
I kicked the snow from my boots. “Not at all. The apartment was cozy.”
“With the company you had, I’ll bet it was,” he said, flipping another perfect pancake onto the stack beside him. “Are Luke and Mioko still sleeping?”
