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Then, last night, she mysteriously had no way to leave.

All for one reason: so we’d be alone.

I understood everything the moment I walked in and found her in the bathroom with Serena. And even though I never truly believed we’d get back together, I still said nothing.

Because I wanted to be near her. Alone with her.

“I think you should sit down for this,” Thalia says with a chuckle, guiding Selene to the couch.

She looks back at me helplessly, so I follow and sit beside her.

The others scatter around the room—armchairs, kitchen stools, anywhere they can squeeze themselves in—but Sierra is the first one to speak.

Of course she is.

“So…” she begins, rubbing her hands together. “Long story short,” she continues with a mischievous smile, “I was planning to renovate Serena’s room—like I originally told you—but it definitely didn’t have to happen now.”

“And I was planning to renovate the hotels,” Theo says immediately, a smirk tugging at his mouth, “just not necessarily now.”

“And personally, I’m not complaining,” Nick adds with his usual grin. “I had an amazing night with my wife, even though there wasn’t actually any event we absolutely needed to attend.”

Liam and I both send him warning looks, which he ignores completely, as usual. We both know he worships the ground Sierra walks on, but that doesn’t mean either of us will ever let him casually open discussions about their private life.

And we know he won’t… ever.

He just enjoys provoking us.

“Oh… and the nanny wasn’t sick,” Thalia adds quickly.

Every new piece of information seems to hit Selene from a different direction. Her head turns from one person to another, her brows drawing together as she struggles to keep up with the revelations piling on top of each other.

“Oh, and we intentionally left Zayn out of the group last night and made sure you had no other ride home,” Chase finishes, laughing.

“We also brought your luggage from our place,” Sierra adds with that same dazzling smile. “Not because we’re kicking you out or anything…” she quickly explains to my girlfriend, who is still staring at them in utter disbelief. “I just figured you’d rather live with my brother.”

From Nick’s arms, she winks at Selene, then reaches over to high-five Thalia.

Selene’s gaze immediately shifts toward the front door, where two massive suitcases are, in fact, sitting by the entrance.

Then she looks at me as though she’s waiting for my reaction, like she still doesn’t know what to expect from me. Like she isn’t sure whether I’d actually want us to live together again.

I don’t say anything.

Instead, I hold her gaze with one eyebrow raised, amusement written plainly across my face.

“Wait…” she says, shaking her head a few times. “So this entire time… you were all trying to get us together?”

The next hour passes as everyone explains how, at first, they tried giving us space but quickly realized we both wanted the same thing.

And even though nobody said it out loud, they started making plans to throw us together whenever they could, always coming up with different excuses.

All I do is sit there, feeling grateful for the incredible family I have.

But even more grateful that the love of my life decided I deserved another chance—and that she still wants to be mine.

FIFTY-FOUR

Selene