I tilt my head up. The kiss is slow, thorough, full of everything we’re not saying yet. When he pulls back, his forehead rests against mine.
“I’ll text you when I’m home,” he says quietly. “And tonight… I’m bringing dessert too.”
“Fried Ice Cream?”
“Obviously.”
I grin. “You’re forgiven for leaving. Temporarily.”
He laughs—soft, warm—and kisses me one last time. “See you later, Silas.”
“See you tonight,hermoso.”
He slips out of the bedroom. I hear him in the living room—shoes on, keys jingling—then the front door opens and closes with a soft click.
The apartment goes quiet again.
But it’s different now. It doesn’t feel empty. It feels…as if it’s waiting. Like it knows he’s coming back.
I flop back onto the pillows, staring at the ceiling with a stupid smile on my face, already counting the hours until tonight.
THIRTY-EIGHT
LUKE
I unlockthe apartment door quietly, easing it open like I’m trying not to wake anyone. It’s been a while since I’ve done a proper morning-after arrival—since the dorm days on campus, really. Senior year hit and the three of us decided to pool our money and rent this place off-campus instead of staying in the residence halls. More space, fewer rules, no RA knocking on the door at 2 a.m. to complain about noise. It’s been good. Grounding. Especially after everything last year.
The second I step inside and close the door behind me, the familiar smell hits: day-old pizza, fresh coffee, and that faint, lived-in scent of three guys who still haven’t figured out how to run the dishwasher on a schedule. It wraps around me like a hug, steadying after the last twenty-four hours turned my entire world upside down in the best possible way.
Ty’s sprawled upside down on the couch, feet hooked over the backrest, head dangling off the cushion, and a half-empty bag of Lucky Charms balanced precariously on hisstomach. He’s mid-chew when his eyes land on me. A marshmallow falls out of his mouth as he jerks upright, swinging his legs around and knocking the entire bag to the floor in a colorful avalanche of cereal.
“Jesus, dude,” Will mutters from the armchair without looking up. He’s got a pencil tucked behind one ear and a journal open on the armrest, legs crossed like he’s trying to pretend he’s above the chaos. His scowl deepens at the mess on the rug. “You’re cleaning that up.”
Ty ignores him, grin already spreading wide and wicked. “Well, well. Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence. Have fun playing house with Coach?”
I roll my eyes, dropping my keys into the bowl by the door with a soft clink. “Good morning to you too, sunshine.”
Will finally glances up, one eyebrow arched in that quiet, assessing way he has. “You’re wearing the same clothes you left in yesterday. You smell like sex.” He pauses, nose wrinkling slightly. “And… strawberries?”
I swipe my tongue over my bottom lip on reflex and toe off my shoes, nudging them onto the mat. “Strawberry jam. What are you, a bloodhound?”
Ty cackles, kicking his legs up onto the coffee table. “Oh my God. He fed you breakfast in bed, didn’t he? That’s so domestic it’s disgusting.”
“Shut up,” I say, but there’s no heat in it. I cross to the kitchen, grab a mug from the cabinet, and pour myself the last dregs of coffee from the pot. It’s lukewarm, but I don’t care. I need something to do with my hands. “And I made him breakfast in bed, thank you very much.”
Will closes his journal with a soft snap and sets it aside. “You okay?”
The question is quiet. Direct. The kind of check-in he’sbeen doing since the day after Silas left—never pushy, just steady. Ty might tease until the cows come home, but Will is the one who always knows when the teasing needs to stop.
I lean back against the counter, cradling the mug between my palms. “Yeah. I’m…really okay.”
Ty’s grin softens into something more genuine. He hops off the couch, steps over the cereal massacre, and comes to lean against the counter beside me. “So you didn’t just get laid. You got, like…reunited-laid.”
I snort into my coffee. “Poetic.”
“Accurate,” he counters. “You’ve got that post-sex glow and the ‘I’m emotionally compromised but happy about it’ face. Spill.”
I glance between them—Ty with his arms crossed, expectant, and Will watching me with that calm, patient gaze that always makes me feel as though it’s safe to say the truth. I’m not positive when we morphed into this little family, but I wouldn’t trade them away for the world.
