It takes everything I have.
Her eyes open slowly. Dazed. Her cheeks are flushed and her lips are swollen and she’s looking at me like I just rearranged the entire universe without warning her first.
The bags are on the ground. I don’t know when she dropped them.
My hand is still in her hair. I should let go. I know I should. But she hasn’t pulled away, hasn’t stiffened, hasn’t given me any sign that she wants me to stop touching her.
So I don’t.
“Locke,” she whispers.
I’m never getting that taste out of my mouth. I’m never going to stop wanting more. I’m going to spend the rest of my life chasing this exact moment, this exact feeling, this exact—
The door opens behind me.
We both freeze.
Kyron stands in the doorway. His eyes move from me to Nova to the dropped bags to her swollen lips. His expression doesn’t change, but something in his posture goes very still.
Nova bolts.
She grabs the bags—misses one, grabs it again—and pushes past Kyron into the house without a word. Her footsteps pound up the stairs. A door slams.
Silence.
Kyron steps out onto the porch. The door clicks shut behind him.
“Well,” he says. His voice is too casual. “You lucky son of a bitch.”
I don’t say anything. I’m still staring at the spot where she was standing.
“I really didn’t think you’d be the first.” He moves to stand beside me, arms crossed, looking out at the path like this is a normal conversation. “How was it?”
The question lands somewhere in my chest and twists.
“Better,” I say.
Kyron is quiet for a long moment.
“Better than what?”
“Better than anything I’ve ever imagined.”
He exhales. Slow. Controlled. When I glance at him, his jaw is tight.
“She ran,” he says.
I know. I felt it. The moment the door opened, she was gone—like a rabbit spooked by a predator.
“She’ll run from all of us,” I say. “At first.”
“And then?”
I look at him. “And then she won’t.”
Kyron holds my gaze. We’ve known this was coming. All of us wanting the same person, all of us having to figure out how to make that work. It’s not a problem yet. It will be.
“Next time,” he says, “at least warn a guy.”
