I waited until the house went completely still.

Ethan’s breathing evened out behind his closed door a little after midnight. I lay in the guest room staring at the ceiling until I couldn’t stand the ache anymore. Then I got up, bare feet silent on the hallway floor, and pushed open Marcus’s door.

He was awake. Sitting up against the headboard in the dark, sheet low on his hips, chest bare. Like he’d been waiting.

“Lock it,” he said.

I did.

The second the lock clicked he was off the bed. He crossed the room in two strides, backed me against the door, and kissed me like he’d been holding...