He laughs softly against my skin. “I’m getting in the shower. You should start moving.”
His arm slides away. The mattress shifts as he gets up. I hear his footsteps cross the room, the bathroom door close, the water turn on.
I don’t move.
I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, feeling better than I’ve felt maybe in my entire life.
Last night.
Last night.
The way he kissed me—like he’d been holding back for weeks and finally let himself stop. The way his control cracked when I pulled him closer. The way he teased me before sliding my underwear down my legs, that smirk in his voice when he said“Are you sure?”like he already knew the answer.
The way it felt when he was inside me. The way he said my name.
And underneath all of it—this sense ofrightness. Like I’d made the only decision that made sense. Like my body had known before my brain caught up.
I press my thighs together without meaning to. Heat pools low in my stomach—the good kind this time.
I didn’t know it could feel like that. I didn’t knowIcould feel like that.
I want to do it again.
The thought surfaces without permission and I feel my face flush. I want to do it again. Tonight. Tomorrow. Every night for the rest of my—
The others.
The thought cuts through the haze.
I slept with Kyron. In a house full of men who are all… what? Waiting? Watching? I kissed Locke on the porch. Trey in the living room. Kyron carried me through the door while I had my legs wrapped around him. And now I’ve—
They’re okay with it.
The memory surfaces. All those conversations I half-heard, all those looks they exchanged when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. Theway Locke said“You don’t need permission to act on what you feel. Not with us.”
They know. They’re okay with it.
I take a breath. Let it out slowly.
Okay. Okay. I can do this.
I’m about to push myself up when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
The door opens. Beckett.
“Hey.” I smile without thinking.
“Hey.” He steps inside, clothes folded in his arms, and then he stops.
His eyes move over me. Slow. Taking in the sheet pulled up to my chest, my bare shoulders, my hair a mess against Kyron’s pillow. His gaze lingers just long enough that my skin prickles.
Something shifts in his expression. Mischief. Like he’s just confirmed something he already suspected.
Oh crap.
I feel the heat climb up my neck.
