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He was the one who taught me how to ride a bike and how to sneak out without getting caught. He followed me on all the adventures I thought were so grand at only nine years old and never teased me for them. For every milestone or disappointment, I had him at my side.

Things had gotten so tangled up.

Every time I looked at him, I saw the boy who once patched up my scraped knees and now, the man who owned my heart. I didn’t know when it happened, when being his best friend stopped being enough. When the laughs and late-night talks started meaning more than they should’ve. All I knew was that I didn’t know how to unfeel it. I’d tried. I lost count of how many times I told myself to stop dreaming of a forever I wasn’t allowed to want. My heart hadn’t caught up yet. I was starting to realize it never would.

At my silence, Roxxi added, “If it doesn’t work out, then at least you’ll know you tried. And if he hurts you, we’ll be here to kick his ass. You know that, right?”

I laughed, some of the tension in my chest loosening. “Yeah. I know. I need time to figure it all out.”

“Then take all the time you need. Just don’t be afraid to take a risk.”

I nodded. Their support settled around me like armor. “Thanks, you guys. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Cloe flashed a grin as she stood to help us with the plates. “You’d be even more of a mess, and so would we, let’s be real here. We balance each other out.”

“We do,” I agreed. “Which means it’s your turn. Let’s talk about your guys’ love lives now.”

Cloe made a face immediately. “You know that I swore off men for the foreseeable future. Headaches, lies, and audacity? No, thank you. I choose peace.”

“I just told you how I’m moving. I don’t want one of those things attached to me,” Roxxi stated.

“Things?” I laughed.

Ari raised her hand serenely. “I have at least a hundred book boyfriends and Wicked Whims. I’m going to stick to my fantasy worlds.”

“None of you is any fun.”

Their jokes and laughter echoed through the house, the easy kind that made everything feel a little more bearable, even if only for a moment.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SANJANA

We spent the rest of the afternoon at home. I'd been texting a little with Ryder, mostly casual check-ins. I had messaged Ashton too, along with a few of the cheer girls, but our main group chat with the guys had still been oddly quiet. Even with their classes and lives outside of us, we never went this long without so much as a meme or funny reel being shared. There wasn’t even a mention of meeting up at the diner later. It was always a given, but someone still brought it up.

Ari was cross-legged on the floor with her tablet, knee-deep in Hunt research. Roxxi was muttering to herself at the dining table, typing an essay like her life depended on it, and Cloe was upstairs, pacing her room while trying to contact her ghosting project partner. The vibe had shifted from us eating together earlier.

I sat curled on the couch with my laptop open, trying to organize my notes for my online elective—Digital Ethics, of all things—but I wasn’t really retaining anything. The lack of noise in the house was peaceful, but the silence of the guys wasn’t, especially when all of us had been with one of them at some point today. Ryder had walked me to class and sent flowers. Roxxi had seen Nick and Xander this morning. Ari had seen Cade and spent most of the day bouncing between buildings, so there was no way she hadn’t crossed paths with at least one of them again. So why had no one said a word about The Hunt? No sarcastic comments. No casual teasing. No,we knowjabs. Nothing.

“How mad do you think they are?” Ari asked suddenly, her thoughts aligning with mine.

Roxxi didn’t look up from her screen. “Why do they get to be mad? If they’re Marked too, they’ve been keeping it quiet just like we have. Communication goes both ways; if they want to play it silent, so can we.”

Ari hesitated, voice softer. “I get your point, but that doesn’t seem like the best way to handle this. You know how they are.”

Roxxi sighed, finally closing her laptop and tossing her pen onto the table. “Idoknow how they are. And we all know how easy it is for them to find out something when they want to. After thinking about it a little more, there’s no doubt in my mind they know we’re Marked. It might’ve started with Sanj, but as soon as Ryder got ahintof what was happening? You know damn well he told the others.”

Ari nodded slowly. “So, they’re waiting for us to admit it. They obviously don’t know about the bird because our home would have been invaded by them in caveman mode by now.”

I shifted on the couch, pulling my knees closer. “If I ease into the confession about the bird. It should be okay… Hopefully.” I paused. “I can’t picture them being Marked, too. What would that even look like?”

“I bet two or three Huntsmen try to screw with them, max. Then they’re going to learn a hard lesson because those boys never play fair,” Roxxi replied. “We’re the easy targets. Or at least, they’ll think so.”

My phone started ringing, disrupting our talk. I glanced at the screen—Ashton. I sighed and set my laptop aside. “I’ll take this upstairs. I need to start getting ready anyway.”

I answered as I was climbing the stairs two at a time.

“Hey,” Ashton’s voice came through, a little quieter than usual.

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