Carter moves toward me, concern softening his features. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” The lie tastes like ash on my tongue. All three of them stare at me with identical expressions ofWe can tell you’re bullshitting us.
“And you slept well?”
Heat floods my cheeks. Before I can answer, Kai coughs into his fist, and I definitely hear the words “bed creaking” and “screaming” hidden in there somewhere. “No one slept last night,” he adds with a wicked grin. “Just saying.”
I might actually combust. My face is on fire, spreading down my neck, probably reaching my chest at this point. Of course they heard. The walls in this house aren’t soundproof, and I wasn’t exactly… quiet.
“I—that’s—” I sputter, unable to form actual words.
Seth breaks the awkward silence, pushing off the counter and moving toward me with that slow, deliberate stride. “It was bound to happen,” he adds. “We’re scent matches. Our bodies were always going to find each other.” His lips curve into something between a smile and a smirk. “And those sounds you were making were hard to ignore.”
I laugh, fake and slightly hysterical. “Yeah, well. I’m sure Carter gave you all the details.” I shoot Carter a pointed look. He crosses the remaining distance between us, stopping close enough that his scent wraps around me like a blanket.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” His green eyes hold mine, serious underneath the charm. “What happened between us stays between us. Unless you want to share.”
“Oh my God, when you say it like that?—”
“Like what?”
“Never mind.” I press my hands to my burning cheeks. Kai and Seth have drifted closer too, all three of them circling me like I’m the center of their orbit. I know they’re staring at my neck. At the bite.
“He definitely told you about the mark,” I say quietly.
“How could I not?” Carter reaches out, fingers gentle against my jaw, tilting my face up to show them. “I have you on my mind constantly. My body craves you endlessly. And our bond…” Hetraces the mark, and I shiver. “It makes you mine for eternity. You have no idea how happy that makes me.”
He pulls me into his arms before I can protest, and I should push back, should maintain some kind of distance while I figure out what I’m feeling. But his scent floods my senses the moment I’m pressed against his chest, and I melt, lifting myself onto my tiptoes, my face finding the curve of his neck like it belongs there.
I breathe him in. Deep. Deeper. The bond purrs with satisfaction, and I’m already floating, already lost. “You’re dangerous,” I mumble against his skin.
“That’s what a bond does,” Seth explains from somewhere behind me. “Connects you so deeply that you instinctively crave each other. It’s biological and unavoidable.”
“Yep.” Kai’s voice is closer now. “And I’m ready for it whenever you are.”
I pull back from Carter to find Kai puckering his lips comically, making exaggerated kissing sounds, and a surprised laugh escapes me.
“Okay.” I hold up my hands, stepping back. “There’s way too much to unpack here, and I’m not ready to deal with it. Can we please not talk about it right now? You three need to focus on your day.”
They exchange looks, some silent communication I can’t decode, and then nod.
“Fair enough,” Carter says softly. “But we’re not done talking about this.”
“I know.” I grab my camera bag from the counter. “I know.”
In no time, we’re piled into Carter’s red pickup truck, country music blasting from the speakers as we wind through the Montana countryside. Kai is in the back with me, and he has one arm stretched along the seat behind me, fingers occasionally brushing my shoulder like he can’t help himself.
I should mind. I don’t.
Seth rides shotgun, tapping his fingers against the edge of the window with the music. Carter is singing along under his breath, slightly off-key, and it’s so endearing that I want to kiss him again.
This right here, the easy comfort of being with them, the way they don’t push when I need space, the way they seem to communicate without words, it’s the sweetest thing they do. Well, one of many.
We drive past golden fields and rolling hills, the morning sun painting everything in shades of amber. By the time we reach the rodeo grounds, my nerves have settled into something manageable.
The arena is massive, an outdoor stadium that’s been set up in the wide-open fields just outside town. A huge banner stretches across the entrance: WILDFIRE STAR RODEO in bold letters, with the dates underneath and photos of the star riders.
Including three very familiar faces.
