“Exactly.” She flashes a mischievous grin.
I roll my eyes but smile as I grab my bag. “Love you, Reign. I’m here, okay? Whenever you’re ready.”
Her expression softens. “Love you too, Berk.”
I head for the door but take a sharp detour down the hall—because there’s one more thing I need before I leave. Otherwise, I’ll have a full-blown Ronan situation on my hands. And when that man makes a promise—or a threat disguised as a promise—he follows through. Every. Time.
Ronan means what he says, always.
He doesn’t fib. Doesn’t sugarcoat. Doesn’t dance around the truth or dress it up in pretty words to soften the blow. He just lays it out there, straight and sharp. And somehow, it never feels too much, at least not to me. It’s one of the million reasons I love him so much. With Ronan, I always know where I stand. There are no games. No second-guessing. Just him, in all his blunt, chaotic, beautiful honesty.
Well... unless it came tothis. Tous.
I’m honestly surprised he kept his emotions buried for so long. He’s not the secretive type, not with me. But maybe I was a little blind. A little stubborn. And definitely in a lot of denial. Looking back now, it’s painfully obvious. The long looks and quiet protectiveness. The way his jaw would tighten when someone got too close. It was always there—I just wasn’t ready to see it.
Honestly, I’m kind of shocked our families didn’t call it out more. You’d think someone would’ve taken one look at the way those boys hovered around me and gone, “Yep. That one’s a goner. Probably all of them.” But no one said a word. Maybe they were waiting for us to figure it out on our own.
Well, we have.
And now that I see it—seethem—I’m never looking away again.
So yeah, I’m going to grab my goodbye kiss. Or three. Maybe linger a little longer than necessary. Because I’ve got a dad waiting for me for dinner... but I’ve also got a heart that belongs, unapologetically, to the boys I just left behind. And one of them will absolutely chase me down in nothing but socks and glitter if I forget to say goodbye properly.
I slip back into Ronan’s room like I’ve got a keycard stamped “forever access.” No knocking. No hesitation. Just the quiet certainty that I belong here now—because I do.
His head snaps up the second I cross the threshold, and that crooked grin of his stretches impossibly wide, lighting up his entire face. “There she is,” he says like I’ve just descended from the heavens.
Before I can blink, he’s across the room, lifting me like I weigh nothing and tossing me over his shoulder with a triumphant little growl. A solid swat lands on my ass, and I yelp through a laugh, playfully swatting his back.
“Ronan!” I squeal, but I’m already grinning like an idiot.
He spins once—just because he can—then slowly, deliciously, drags me down the front of his body until my feet touch the floor again. His arms don’t let go, though. One wraps tight around my waist while the other cups the back of my necklike he’s anchoring me to the earth. His gaze meets mine, all soft warmth and something deeper I can’t name.
“I’m glad you came back,” he murmurs, quieter now, voice dipped in something vulnerable. “I was already missing you.”
My grin softens as I lean in and kiss the tip of his nose. “I was gone for all of twenty minutes, dramatic much?”
He shrugs as if it’s a medical condition. “Felt like a lifetime. My soul was withering.”
I laugh and press my forehead to his. “You’re ridiculous.”
“But yours,” he counters with a smirk. Then his mouth is on mine—deep, lingering, full of heat and something dangerously close to forever. My fingers curl into his shirt, clinging for just a second too long before I pull back with a reluctant sigh.
“I hate to break up the moment,” I whisper, “but I got a text from my dad. I completely forgot we had dinner plans tonight.”
He groans like I’ve told him the world’s ending. “Nooo. We just got you back.”
“I know, I know. But I made plans to have a sleepover with Reign this weekend,” I add with a wink. “You boys have to share.”
That gets a chuckle out of him, but I see the shift in his expression the second I mention Reign. Something tightens. His usual light mischief sharpens into something darker. Protective.
“She’s off,” I say quietly, running my fingers through his hair to soothe the sudden tension. “She says it’s Dylan stuff.”
His jaw ticks, and his eyes flash with that familiar wild heat. “You want me to—”
“No,” I cut in gently, brushing my thumb along his cheek. “She made you swear to stay out of it. I promised to dig a little this weekend. If I find out he’s screwing around,thenI’ll let you know if it’s time to run free.”
A gleam sparks in his eye. “Like your personal guard dog?”
