“It’s gorgeous,” I admit. “And ridiculous. And messy in all the ways that feel… real. There’s always something breaking or mooing or needing to be fed. It’s not…” I search for the word. “Curated.”
He nods like that makes sense.
“And the people?”
I should’ve seen that coming.
“There are people,” I say cautiously.
Creed’s gaze cuts to me again, sharper now, but not unkind. “Uh huh.”
We walk another ten steps.
I blow out a breath. “You know that thing where you’re trying really hard to make better choices than you made in your past, but life keeps handing you situations that look like they were designed in a lab to test that exact resolve?”
“Sounds familiar.”
“Yeah, well.” I drag a hand down my face. “Apparently, my new life came with a built-in ethics exam.”
We reach a flatter stretch, the trees thinning just enough that we can see glimpses of the town below in the distance. The roofs of Coyote Glen peek through the pines. The Hollow’s faded sign, the little grid of Main Street, a smudge that’s probably Coyote Cup’s parking lot.
“It’s complicated,” I say finally.
“That usually means feelings.”
“You say that like it’s a disease.”
He gives me a look that says,You’re the one who sounds like you caught something unwanted.
I sigh so hard it might rattle my ribs. “Fine. Yes. Feelings.”
“For?”
“Plural,” I mutter.
The corner of his mouth twitches again. “Ah.”
“Don’t you ‘ah’ me,” I grumble.
He shrugs. “Hey, we’re all with Sloane. ‘Plural’ doesn’t scare me.”
I actually snort. “Somehow it’s less weird when you say it like that.”
“It’s less weird when it works,” he corrects.
I chew on that.
“Is it… working?” I ask, softer. “With you guys and Sloane?”
Creed doesn’t answer right away.
Then he says, “Yeah. It is. More than anything else that’s ever come before.”
“How?” I blurt.
Because I need to know. Because the idea of loving more than one person at once makes my chest feel both too tight and too wide.
Because I can’t stop thinking about Boone’s steady hands, Silas’s easy flirtation, Caleb’s quiet heart, and the way all of it knots together in my center in a way that feels both terrifying and right.
