Luke didn’t join the conversation. He stayed behind me, arms locked loosely around my waist, as if he needed to feel we were still here. Still intact.
I turned slightly in his hold. “You good?”
His gaze met mine. Clear. Steady. “Yeah.”
The night hadn’t broken us, but it had reminded us.
Theo pushed a plate across the counter toward me. “Eat before King drags you back to civilization.”
Luke huffed a quiet laugh. “We’re not that dramatic.”
Theo raised a brow. “You? Always.”
The mood stayed light after that. Plates passed. Coffee poured. Avery laughed at something Jax muttered under his breath. Tori leaned further into Theo, comfortable now. Chase’s shoulders eventually lowered half an inch.
For a few hours, it was just us. No social feeds. No headlights in the trees. Just the ease of good friends hanging out.
When Luke grabbed the keys from the counter, I felt it before he spoke.
“Ready?”
I slipped my hand into his, our time away cut short because of Chloe outing us on social media. “I guess.”
He squeezed once.
We stepped out into the cool mountain air together, leaving the warmth of the house behind us, knowing it wouldn’t stay that simple once we reached Blackwood again.
But for the length of the drive down the mountain—it was.
The rest of Thanksgiving break passed in a compressed, fragile rhythm.
Mom didn’t dissect the mountain trip when I walked in. There were no pointed questions and no subtle cross-examinations disguised as curiosity. She poured wine, loosened her hair, and let the evening move at its own pace.
Edwardo was already in the kitchen when I came downstairs later, sleeves rolled up, finishing something on the stove. He moved through the space without hesitation.
Mom brushed past him to grab a glass, her hand trailing briefly along his back. He leaned down and said something near her ear that made her smile.
A few days away had done something. They were lighter with each other. Less guarded. The time alone had been good for them.
And for the most part, it had been good for me and Luke too. A break from Blackwood. At least until Chloe decided to make our location public.
Still, most of it had been ours. Not complicated. Just him and me without anything pulling at us. I hadn’t realized how tight my chest had been until it wasn’t.
At dinner that night, Edwardo’s phone lit up, and he excused himself mid-conversation. When he returned, his gaze lingered on me a fraction longer than necessary.
Luke grew quieter during that week. Drew’s name flashed across his screen more than once. His posture tensed before he stepped away to take the call. When he came back, something in his expression had hardened.
Darren’s letter to my mom, his alias, secret phone—none of it really left my mind. The warning not to trust the Kings lingered, so did Darren’s death and what he’d uncovered. Even in the mountains, it all sat there in the background.
Marcus called again. Darren had a shell company and a credit card. He’d built something bigger than we thought.
And we were still waiting.
Monday was coming, where school and routine would return, along with whatever Elise and her father were setting in motion.
But the break had been worth it. For a few days, we weren’t reacting. We were just… together. And for now, that was enough.
Still, a silent Elise unsettled me more than her cruelty ever had.
