Callum puts his hand to his chest. “I make a mean bowl of cereal.”
“You put chocolate milk in cookie crisp like a deranged toddler,” Noah says.
“He’s not wrong,” Orion adds.
“Are we keeping the cameras or what?” Callum asks. “I kinda like falling asleep to his security footage.”
I stop chewing. “What cameras?”
Juliet leans closer. “It was mostly to protect you.”
“Bullshit,” Orion says.
Callum pulls out his phone, projects the bakery security feed onto the living room TV. “For educational purposes.”
It’s me piping perfect roses onto a cake at 3 a.m., humming off-key.
“Look at that wrist flick. That’s foreplay,” Callum says.
Noah throws a napkin at him.
“Leave them. They’re useful to see when danger gets near,” Elliot says.
“You watched me? At work?” I turn to Noah, then Juliet. “This is true?”
“And at home,” Juliet says. “Because you’re so beautiful. And also to make sure that bitch didn’t hurt you.”
“Tell him about the shower?” Callum prods her.
I listen to her story.
I’m not angry over the intrusions.
I’m turned on.
I clear my throat. “So… the heart on my mirror wasn’t condensation?”
Juliet smiles like the devil in pink. “You’re mine, Vitaly. We just made it official.”
After dessert, the table goes quiet. Not awkward. Purposeful.
Like everyone’s waiting for the same clock to strike.
Elliot tops off my wine without asking.
Orion’s knee brushes mine under the table and stays.
Callum’s feet prop in my lap like they’ve always belonged there.
I realize this is how they do intimacy.
Not all at once.
Gradual. Testing.
Making sure I fit.
And I do. I absolutely do.
