“No panties?”
I freeze.
And I—
I giggle.
Actuallygiggle, and it feels good.
For a few moments, I feel lighter and I want to stay like that forever.
Rhett chokes on a laugh behind me, muffled and low, and for once the sound isn’t edged with worry.
I giggle again—really giggle—and it feels foreign and perfect, like remembering how to breathe after holding it too long.
“Nope,” I say, popping the ‘p’ and heading for the door.
Behind me, I hear Jace mutter something that sounds like “I’m a dead man,” and Rhett’s low rumble of amusement.
“Come on,” I call over my shoulder, trying to sound normal and failing completely. “I smell pancakes.”
The kitchen is alive with warmth when we walk in.
Mairen stands at the stove, humming under her breath, flipping pancakes like it was only yesterday we were here, like this. The air smells like cinnamon and butter and something sweet that smells like home.
Theo sits at the table with a book, Gray leans against the counter with his arms crossed, and Wes—
Wes takes one look at the three of us and smirks.
“Well, well,” he drawls. “Look who finally decided to join us.”
I freeze.
Jace doesn’t miss a beat. “We were busy.”
“I’ll bet you were.”
Rhett just grunts, crossing to the coffee pot like nothing happened.
But Wes isn’t done. His eyes flick between the three of us—taking in my borrowed shirt, bare legs, Jace’s rumpled hair, the way Rhett’s hand brushes my lower back as he passes.
“Busy doing what, exactly?” Wes asks innocently.
“Wes,” Theo says without looking up from his book. “Don’t.”
“I’m just curious.”
“You’re nosy,” Gray mutters.
Wes grins wider. “That too.”
The laughter bounces off stone and sunlight, and something in my chest loosens for the first time in over a year.
For a second the whole kitchen feels light—sun on skin, laughter without consequence. I catch myself smiling and don’t fight it.
I feel my face burning, but before I can respond, Jace crosses to Wes and leans in close.
He whispers something—too quiet for me to hear—and Wes’s eyes go wide before snapping to me.
