The way she pushes her hips back tells me everything else I need to know. I press my mouth to her shoulder, let my teeth drag against the skin, just hard enough to leave a mark, then soothe it with my tongue. She gasps, the tension in her thighs tells me she’s close again, that every move I make is tipping her further over the edge. I dip my hand into her shorts, rubbingsoft circles on her clit. “That’s it, pretty girl. Come apart for me again.”
Her whole body goes still, then trembles with the kind of full-body shiver that says she’s giving me everything—her trust, her surrender, her pleasure.
I bury my face against her throat as the last of her shudders ripple through her. I press one last kiss between her shoulder blades and rest my forehead there, catching my breath.
And as the sun finally rises outside, cutting through the stillness of her room and brushing everything in warm gold, I know exactly what this was.
The diner is loud. The kind of morning chaos that smells like cinnamon pancakes and burnt coffee. Plates clatter and someone’s boots squeak against the linoleum. And yet… none of it bothers me like it usually would.
Sitting across from me, Haven is stealing bites of Carter’s hash browns.
Carter’s leaned into her shoulder, his thumb lazily tracing circles on her thigh beneath the table. I don’t even bother pretending not to look.
“Y’know,” I grin, “it’s really annoying how good you are at stealing attention and food.”
Haven rolls her eyes, smiling as she takes another bite and chews it way too slowly just to antagonize me. “Good thing you’re obsessed with me, then.”
“Painfully,” I say which makes Carter snort.
There’s a moment of quiet between us, the kind that only exists when things feel a little too perfect.
“I think I can quit.”
Carter looks up first. “What?”
She swallows,. “My part-time. I mean—between Twitch, the collab offers coming in after the win, sponsorship stuff… I ran the numbers. If things keep going even half as steady as they’ve been, I can go full-time with just streaming.”
Carter’s smile is instant. “You’re serious?”
“I wouldn’t say it unless I was sure,” she says softly. “I’ve been dreaming about this forever. And now… I think I’m really doing it.”
I shift forward, dropping my coffee onto the table with a small clink. “That’s huge.”
She nods. “Feels like it.”
“And you earned every second of it,” Carter says, beaming. “I’m so proud of you.”
Her eyes shimmer and her voice cracks just a little when she says, “I don’t think I would’ve made it without you two.”
Wrong. She would’ve, but fuck if we aren’t glad we get to be here anyway.
I reach across the table, dragging a sugar packet toward me, fingers brushing hers on purpose. “You’re not getting rid of us, you know. You’re stuck.”
“Good.”
Carter tugs Haven a little closer, and she leans into his side. “I still can’t believe you droppedDylanlike that,” he says, shaking his head like he’s reliving the match again. “His face? I wish I’d taken a screenshot.”
She laughs, and it’s the kind of sound that makes my blood buzz. “You should’ve seen him rage quit in the lobby chat afterward. Full meltdown in caps lock. The works.”
“Ididsee it,” I add. “I printed it out. Framed it. Plan to hang it on the back of the my bathroom door.”
She snorts. “You wouldn’t.”
“Watch me.”
Carter gives me a side-eye over his mug. “That’s weirdly on brand.”
We fall into a stretch of lazy chewing and shared glances after that, the kind of silence that feels earned. And then Haven glances between us, and I know something’s brewing behind those dark eyes.
