“Worse. He snores like a chainsaw. But like, a chainsaw that’s also possessed. I’m talking full-body vibrations. I had to down four energy drinks just to stay conscious today.”
“That explains the twitching,” Rowan calls from across the room without looking up from whatever he’s fiddling with.
“I roomed with my brother. It was like being twelve again. He kept talking in his sleep, and I might’ve threatened to smother him with a pillow. Honestly? It was kinda nostalgic.” Korbyn says the last part around a groan as she stretches out her back.
Shiloh settles cross-legged beside me, picking at the hem of her joggers. “Mine was fine,” she says, which is Shiloh-speak forI’m not elaborating, don’t ask.
And then, like a flock of synchronized birds, they all turn to me.
Heat rushes up my neck so fast it’s dizzying. I can feel it blooming across my cheeks, bright and traitorous.
“I…” My voice cracks, which is great. Fantastic, actually. Exactly what I wanted. “I don’t really know what happened last night.”
Four pairs of eyebrows lift.
I tug at the ends of my hair, staring very intently at a spot on the floor. “I’m still trying to figure out where Lucian and I even… stand.”
There’s a beat of silence before Link sits up and leans forward, elbows on his knees, eyes wide with feral curiosity. “Okay, but something happened. You don’t get that shade of tomato red from nothing. That’s like heirloom tomato red.”
Korbyn props herself up on her elbows. “Did he say something? Didyousay something? Did someone cry? Blink twice if someone cried. Blink three times if it was him.”
I exhale slowly, because they’re not wrong, and knowing them, they’re not going to let this go. “He apologized.”
That gets their attention. Rowan actually looks up. Linkin’s eyebrows shoot so high they practically leave his face. Korbyn sits all the way up.
“For real?” she asks. “Like… arealapology? Not a Lucian-brand ‘grunt and eye roll’ apology?”
“Yeah, a real one. About everything. How he left, how he handled the accident, and for shutting me out. And then he… took me shopping.”
Korbyn grins. “Okay, that’s cute.”
I groan. “It’s not—I mean—that’s not the point.”
Shiloh tilts her head. “Is there more?”
“He also… might’ve bought me books.”
“He bought you books?” Rowan asks.
When I hesitate, Korbyn narrows her eyes. “Celeste.”
“He ordered an overflowing cart full,” I mumble.
“A cart?” Link repeats, blinking like he’s trying to reboot his entire operating system. “Like… afullcart? That’s—wow. That’s a lot of books. That’s like… ‘I’m in my feelings’ levels of books.”
But the joke doesn’t land the same way. Not this time.
Korbyn sits up straighter, her expression shifting from amused to something far more serious. “Celeste…”
Link leans forward, elbows on his knees, voice softer than I’ve heard it all night. “That’s a big gesture. And I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m just saying, it’s big.”My throat tightens. “I know.”
Korbyn scoots closer, resting her chin on her knee as she studies me. “We’re not trying to rain on anything. We just want to make sure you’re okay. That you’re not getting swept up in something before you’re ready.”
“I’m not,” I say quickly, then wince. “I mean… I don’t think I am. I just… don’t know what any of it means.”
Shiloh smiles softly. “You don’t have to know yet.”
Rowan crosses his arms, his voice low and steady. “Just remember, you don’t owe him anything. Not because he apologized, or because he bought you things, and definitely not because of the past.”
