I laughed and nudged him with my shoulder, feeling warm and giddy all over. It was the kind of simple, quiet joy I didn’t think I’d experience, but here I was.
We’d grabbed mugs of hot chocolate earlier, and had set up canvases by the fireplace so we could paint together.
I watched him take a sip of his hot chocolate, eyebrows raised like he was judging me for the little extras I was putting in mine. “That’s too much whipped cream,” he said.
“It’s not,” I shot back. “There’s no such thing as using too much whipped cream.”
He rolled his eyes, but the smirk on his lips gave him away. I took another sip and smiled at him.
“You know we have to go back tomorrow,” I said after a pause, the tiny hint of a frown tugging at me. “Back to the city, the club reopening, everything.”
His gaze softened, eyes flicking to mine. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I hate it too. I could stay out here forever. Just you and me, fire blazing, hot chocolate, zero drama.”
“Forever sounds about right,” I replied.
Leaning forward, I gave him another playful kiss, my heart a little heavier knowing we couldn’t really live in these moments forever.
We spent the next hour painting, laughing at our clumsy brushstrokes, teasing each other about how awful the other’s technique was. By the time we finished, the canvases were covered in swirls and abstract shapes, but when we stepped back and looked at them, they were perfect.
“I love this,” I said softly, examining the piece he had made. “It’s…us.”
He looked nervous, holding his own canvas out. “Really?”
I nodded, eyes wide, and he smiled, just a hint of pride breaking through the dark edge he always carried. “It’s like…I wanted to show…how I feel about you without saying it.”
I swallowed hard.
I stepped closer, standing right in front of him, and we just stood there for a moment, the space between us filled with all the words we didn’t have to say. “I feel the same,” I whispered.
Before he could respond, my phone started buzzing on the table.
It was my mother.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Skye!” her voice was panicked, almost shaking. “It’s Leera. She’s locked in her room, crying, won’t tell me why. I don’t know what happened, but it’s…it’s got something to do with Kory.Something she found, and…she’s disgusted. I don’t know what’s going on.”
I ran a hand through my hair, stomach knotting. “Mom…calm down. I’ll call her.” She kept talking, but I cut her off gently. “I’ll call you back.”
I hung up and immediately turned to Ocean, who was watching me with concern. “Mom said Leera’s locked herself in her room. She’s crying. Won’t tell her why, but it has something to do with Kory. Probably something to do with another woman.”
Ocean stiffened.
I could feel the tension radiating off him, and before I could even finish my sentence, he spoke. “I need to tell you something.” I watched as he ran a hand down the back of his head. “I talked to Enzo about Kory.”
My stomach dropped. “You…what?”
He exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I...um...went to confront him about some other shit, then I asked him about Kory.”
“What other shit did you go to confront him about?”
He paused, then looked away from me.
“Ocean?”
He sighed. “I found out it was his party that you were at the night you were...assaulted. I wanted to know if he had anything to do with it.”
I froze. My heart started pounding, and a mix of shock, anger, and fear rose in me. “What...what did he say?”
