Page 159 of End Game

I end back at the island beside Alexis while conversations reform around us.

Jeremiah and Carter are talking quietly with Ronan and Micah now. I catch enough words—restraints, trust, equipment, safety—to know exactly what they’re discussing without hearing anything I can use to embarrass Ronan later.

Probably.

Dex hovers nearby until Carter changes the subject and pulls him back into whatever tattoo conversation they abandoned earlier.

Shawn moves toward them and asks Ronan another question about the campaign when there’s an opening.

Everyone is comfortable.

The realization hits me slowly.

I don’t have to facilitate this.

I don’t have to make sure Griffin is comfortable because Holden and Ethan already did.

I don’t have to make sure Ronan has someone to talk to because Shawn and Jeremiah found him.

Micah has met Alexis before, but now he’s laughing with Carter.

And Dex… Dex could make friends with a hostile raccoon behind a dumpster.

As long as they aren’t overwhelmed by him, he’s fine.

Alexis bumps my shoulder with hers. “You look happy.”

“I am.”

Her smile softens.

“How’s wedding planning?”

She groans.

I laugh. “That well?”

“We figured out the important parts.”

“Like?”

Alexis holds up her left hand even though there’s nothing new. “We figured out a ring replacement for the commitment ceremony.”

My eyebrows lift.

“Ethan came up with this idea where they’ll each give me charms during the ceremony, and then we’re having them put onto a bracelet.”

“That is ridiculously sweet.”

“I know.” Her eyes drift toward the men scattered around the kitchen.

“And nobody feels like the legal—official—wedding matters more?”

“I’m sure we’ll all have feelings about it at some point.” She laughs quietly. “But that’s kind of the point. We found something that works best for us.”

Not the solution.

Their solution.