For a second, I couldn’t move.
She looks happy. Untouchably happy.
Then I saw him. Some guy — tall, leaning in too close, one hand sliding to her waist like he’d earned the right to touch her. She laughed it off, light and harmless, but I could see the discomfort underneath.
Before I even thought about it, I was moving.
The crowd parted around me. Maybe it was the look on my face — maybe just luck. Either way, I stopped behind him before he could try again.
“She’s taken,” I said, voice low enough to cut through the music.
The guy turned, eyes narrowing. “Didn’t see a ring.”
I smiled without humor. “You’re about to see stars.”
He started to square up, but Naomi appeared like a damn miracle, sliding between us.
“Calm down, hero,” she said, giving me a look that could’ve melted steel. “I’ve got her.”
Ellery blinked, startled — cheeks pink for a whole different reason now. “Beckett? What are you?—”
“Yeah,” I said, jaw tight. “You’re both coming with me.”
Naomi crossed her arms. “Oh, are we? Because I don’t remember appointing you our babysitter.”
Ellery tugged gently at Naomi’s wrist, trying to keep the peace. “It’s fine. Let’s just… get some air.”
The guy muttered something under his breath as we passed. I didn’t catch it, but it didn’t matter. One look from me and he decided not to repeat it.
Outside, the lake wind hit hard, cold and bracing. The noise faded behind us, replaced by the sound of water lapping against the docks.
Naomi snorted, clearly amused now. “You really do have a martyr complex, don’t you?”
“Call it whatever you want,” I said, still watching Ellery.
She leaned against the railing, pulling her hair over one shoulder, trying to pretend she wasn’t shaken.
“Thanks,” she murmured. “But you didn’t have to.”
Didn’t have to.
Yeah, maybe not.
But watching her in there — laughing one minute, nearly cornered the next — something in me snapped.
I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets, looking anywhere but her. “Don’t mention it.”
Naomi grinned. “Oh, we’ll mention it. Repeatedly.”
I ignored her.
Because no matter how many times I told myself to stay out of it, I knew the truth — the second she called me that night, I was already gone.
Naomi was still laughing when I got them both to the truck. Ellery leaned against the passenger door, shoes in her lap, head tipped back, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. Between the two of them, it felt like wrangling cats. Drunk, stubborn cats.
Naomi pointed at me as I buckled Ellery’s seatbelt. “You’re sweet, Mason. Like, annoyingly sweet. I’ll deny it if you tell anyone, but it’s true.”
“Noted,” I said, starting the engine. “And don’t worry — my reputation’s safe.”
