The music still pulsed through the yard, bodies moving around him, but his focus stayed locked—straight to the edge of the lawn.
On Law.
Something in his chest shifted, settled deeper this time.
Fine.
If the man wanted to watch—
Sage let him.
His movement changed without thinking about it. Slower. More deliberate. Less careless energy, more control. He rolled his hips, turned just enough for the firelight to catch, aware now of every step, every shift of his body.
Aware of those whiskey eyes on him.
Law’s grip tightened slightly around the coffee mug.
He didn’t move. Didn’t look away.
The distance between them stretched and tightened all at once, something unspoken locking into place.
For a second, the rest of the world dulled—the music, the laughter, the crackle of the fire—everything fading to background noise.
Just that look.
Just that pull.
“Fireworks! Get over here!” someone shouted from the far side of the yard.
Sage jerked to a stop. The moment snapped.
Voices picked up again, movement shifting as people drifted toward the open field beyond the house.
Boston grabbed someone’s arm and took off. Micah followed, laughing.
Sage exhaled slowly and dragged a hand through his hair, breaking the line of sight—but not the awareness.
Not even close.
He stepped forward, already moving in the same direction as the rest of them.
Toward the field.
Toward the next thing.
And whether he meant to or not—
toward Law.
The field opened wide beyond the house, the grass darker here where the lights didn’t quite reach.
Voices carried ahead of Sage—laughter, movement, the low hum of people settling in—but it felt quieter somehow. Thinner. Like the night had stretched out to make room.
Far beyond the tree line, the city spread low across the horizon, a scatter of light holding against the dark.
Sage stepped out of the spill of light from the yard and into the open dark, the cooler air cutting through the heat, the scent of smoke and summer still clinging to him.
The shift hit his skin immediately, cooling the heat there without settling anything underneath it.
