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ZuriMaya was already in her pajamas, cross-legged on the bed scrolling through her phone, when mine buzzed on the nightstand.Audric: What are you up to?Me: About to go to bed. We leave early tomorrow.I set the phone down and had barely reached for my toothbrush when it started ringing instead. Audric's name lit up the screen."Hey." I answered, glancing at Maya."Can you sneak into the game room?" His voice was low, like he already knew he was asking something he shouldn't be."Right now?""Right now."I looked at Maya, who was already watching me over her phone, one eyebrow raised like she'd heard the entire question through the speaker."Go." She waved a hand, grinning. "I'll survive one night without you. Go be with your boys.""You're the best, you know that?""I do know that. Now go before I change my mind and make you stay and paint my nails."I slipped out of the room in socks, phone still warm in my hand, and made my way down the back stairs toward the game room, my heart
ZuriDinner had never felt this quiet in this house before, not the tense kind of quiet from the last few days, but something softer. Plates clinked. Wine got poured. My mum sat across from me, and for the first time since everything came out, she wasn't avoiding my eyes.Alexander stood first, tapping his glass with a fork."Before we eat, I think there's something that needs to be said properly, instead of shouted across a living room." He glanced at Diane, then at my parents. "So I'm going to let the person who actually deserves to say it first."He sat back down, and my mum set her fork aside, folding her hands in front of her."I owe all of you an apology." Her voice was steady, but I could hear what it cost her to keep it that way. "I reacted badly when I found out. I said things I regret, and I spent the last few hours looking at my daughter like she'd done something wrong, instead of asking her why she was happy.""Mum, you don't have to—""Let me finish, baby." She reached ac
ZuriDiane had me chopping vegetables while she stirred something on the stove, the kitchen warm with the smell of garlic and butter, the two of us falling into an easy rhythm we’d built over years of exactly this.“Can I tell you something?” She didn’t look up from the pot.“Always.”“I like you.” She said it simply, like it was a fact she’d been sitting on and finally decided to hand over. “I don’t have a single problem with you being with my sons. If all three of them wanted to marry you tomorrow, I’d bless that union without hesitating.”My knife stilled against the cutting board. “Thank you, Diane. That means more than you know.” I glanced at her, throat tight. “I just wish my mum was as open-minded about it.”“Don’t worry about that.” She reached over, squeezing my hand once before going back to the stove. “I’ll talk to her. Mother to mother. She’ll come around eventually. Rhea loves you too much not to.”Her phone rang before I could answer. She wiped her hands on a towel, glan
EthanThe basketball court sat at the far end of the compound, something our dad had built years ago back when he still played on weekends with his old college friends. None of us had much use for it these days. Hockey was where our heads were, where our hands were, where every free hour we had actually went. But Brandon and Jackson had asked if the court still worked, and there was no way any of us were saying no to that.I found out fast why they'd asked."Pass it here." Jackson called for the ball, and the second it hit his hands he was gone, weaving past Chris like he wasn't even there, sinking it clean through the hoop without so much as slowing down."Again?" Chris bent over, hands on his knees, already out of breath. "How are you doing that?""Years of practice." Brandon grinned, stealing the rebound from Audric before he could even set his feet. "Give or take."We'd been out there almost half an hour, and between the two of them, I don't think our side had touched the ball mor
ZuriI found Maya waiting in my room when I finally made it upstairs, curled up on the bed like she'd been sitting there for a while already, patient in a way that wasn't usually her style."Come here." She patted the mattress beside her.I sank down next to her, exhaustion finally catching up with everything from the last twenty-four hours, and let my head drop onto her shoulder."Okay, I have to say something." Maya's voice held that particular tone she got right before she said something wildly inappropriate. "I think it's genuinely so cool that you're dating three insanely hot guys. All three of them. Meanwhile I've been out here manifesting one halfway decent guy who texts back, and you just casually collected an entire matching set."A laugh escaped me, cracked and wet, tangled up with the tears still threatening to spill over again. "It's not that simple, Maya.""I know, I know, big feelings, complicated family drama, I'm getting there." She bumped her shoulder against mine. "B
ZuriBreakfast was quiet in the worst possible way, forks scraping plates, nobody quite meeting anyone else's eyes across the table."We've booked our flight for this evening." My mum set her coffee down, voice steady but final. "We won't be staying until Monday after all.""If this is about what happened," Alexander said carefully, "we're sorry. We didn't raise these boys to behave this way. We don't know what came over any of them last night. You were meant to stay until Monday. Why rush off over one little altercation? This family has come a long way, Rhea. We've shared dinners, celebrations, years of friendship. One night shouldn't be enough to break that.""One little altercation." My mum's voice sharpened instantly. "You're calling what your sons did to my daughter a little thing?""It was consensual. My sons didn't force themselves on her.” Diane's voice cut in, clipped. "Don't put all of this on my sons, Rhea. Your daughter is equally responsible for whatever this arrangement
RheaGreg found me near the back of the ballroom, his hand landing gently on my shoulder.“There you are, kiddo. Come, there are some people I would like you to meet.” His smile was warm, genuine. “The Harrisons have been asking about you.”The Harrisons. Old money. The kind of people who smiled to
RHEAPain woke me before anything else.Not just the burning across my chest where they’d carved their initials into my skin. That was there, constant and throbbing. But the ache between my legs was worse—a deep, bone-deep soreness that made even the thought of moving unbearable.They hadn’t given
JacksonThe Harrisons arrived first, their Mercedes pulling smoothly into the circular driveway. I watched from the living room window as Thomas Harrison stepped out, already wearing his hunting vest even though we wouldn’t head into the woods for hours. His wife, Linda, followed, a homemade pie ba
Rhea “Hey,” I said, the sheepish smile on my face never leaving. “Mi vida.” He reached me, his eyes immediately taking in my appearance. His hands found mine and held them gently. “You look beautiful. That dress—you’re stunning.”The compliment should have made me happy. Instead, it made me wa







