Then he looks at me, his eyes running over me, all the playfulness shifts.
“I like seeing you like this,” he says. “Happy.”
My throat tightens, but I nod, unable to put the warmth swelling in my chest into words.
Carson leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead, then to my temple, and then—because it’s Carson—to my nose. “And just so you know,” he murmurs, “you are ours. No matter how many ghosts from the past or obsessive voyeurs try to distract you.”
I exhale slowly, eyes darting between them.
“My god,” I whisper. “You three are going to ruin me.”
Graham speaks from the kitchen. “That’s the plan.”
The living roomis cozy and dim, the glow from the TV flickering across the soft lines of our makeshift nest of pillows and throw blankets. The coffee table is loaded with snacks; popcorn, pretzels, sour candy in a bowl I swear was once meant for salad. Carson, of course, claimed it with dramatic flair and zero shame.
“Okay, but I’m serious,” he says, pointing his half-eaten gummy worm at the screen. “If a ghost ever tells me to get out, I’m not sticking around like these morons. I’m grabbing my things and sprinting.”
Hunter snorts. “You’d trip over your shoes and blame the ghost.”
“I would not!” Carson protests, indignant. “I’m very coordinated.”
“Mm-hm.” Graham leans against the armrest, one arm slung behind me. “That time in the training room?—”
“That was a fluke,” Carson cuts in, wagging the candy. “And someone moved the mat.”
I chuckle, resting my head against Graham’s shoulder. “You guys do realize I’ve seen you all in action, right? Pretty sure Carson did a somersault last week trying to avoid a squirrel. He’s very coordinated.”
Hunter raises an eyebrow. “That was tactical.”
Carson tosses a pillow at him, but it’s a lazy hit, more fondness than frustration.
It’s nice, this moment. Light. Easy.
I shift slightly, tugging my legs under me and letting my fingers brush against Graham’s thigh. He goes still for a second, and so does my heart. I’m about to change everything.
“So,” I say, clearing my throat.
Three sets of eyes swing toward me. I swallow down my nerves.
“I want you to mark me,” I say quietly. “Both of you. I’m ready.”
The room stills. The movie keeps playing in the background, but none of us are watching now.
Graham’s jaw clenches, the muscles in his arm flexing around me. “Willow... are you sure?”
I nod once, my heart in my throat. “Yeah. I’ve been sure for a while, I just—I needed to be ready to say it out loud. I don’t want temporary. I want forever. With you. All of you.”
Carson’s expression shifts, all his teasing dropping away. He leans forward, the softest look in his eyes. “You mean it, peaches?”
Tears sting my eyes. “I do. I want to be yours. I already am, really. So making it official makes sense.”
Hunter doesn’t speak—he just leans forward and presses a kiss to my temple, a quiet kind of approval that makes my chest ache.
Graham brushes his thumb along my jaw. “You are. We’ve loved you since that first day, I’m pretty sure.”
“I love you,” I whisper. “All of you.”
Carson takes my hand, linking his fingers through mine. “Are you ready for forever with me?”
