Morning light felt different.

I woke alone in the guest room, the sheets still faintly smelling of them — Noah’s clean scent, Liam’s warmer one, the quieter trace of Jace. My body ached in places that had nothing to do with sleep. Every time I moved I felt the ghost of their hands and mouths. The memory of Jace’s tongue, Liam’s fingers, Noah’s controlled hunger sat under my skin like a second pulse.

I stayed in bed longer than I should have, staring at the ceiling, trying to decide if I regretted any of it.

I didn’t.

That was the part that scared me most.

When I finally came downstairs...