Briggs landed in the booth with a grunt. “Censorship weakens democracy.”
Rider’s mouth barely moved. “You weaken breakfast.”
Cade looked at Easton. “You good?”
Easton nodded once. “Yeah.”
Cade’s gaze moved over him, not intrusive but checking the way Cade checked everyone he cared about. “Actually good?”
Easton’s hand tightened around mine. “More than good and moving to perfect.”
Cade’s eyes softened by one degree. “That’s enough for now.”
Bliss shoved playfully at Cade’s chest. “Move, babe. I need to sit by Aura.”
Cade slid over because he was many things, but a man willing to deny Bliss anything was not one of them.
I slid into the booth, and Bliss immediately threw both arms around me from the side.
“Subtle,” I murmured.
“I am showing restraint.”
“You climbed me.”
“I could have screamed.”
Charm leaned across Bliss. “She really could have. We begged her not to.”
Ryan’s mouth twitched behind his coffee. “Group effort.”
Easton sat beside me, his thigh pressing warm against mine under the table. The contact was casual, almost small, except nothing about us felt small yet. Not after the night before. Not after everything that had cracked open and somehow left us breathing.
Briggs leaned forward, his eyes narrowed at our hands on the table. “So, are we allowed to be excited, or are we playing it cool?”
“Play it cool,” Rider said.
Briggs nodded with the gravity of a man receiving sacred instruction. “I have never done that, but I’ll imagine it.”
Bliss looked between me and Easton with a soft, watery smile. “You both look happy.”
“Careful,” I said. “Say that louder and we’ll panic.”
Easton’s thumb brushed mine. “She’s not wrong.”
I turned my head toward him. He looked back at me without flinching, without turning it into a joke, without pretending he hadn’t just said something that made my chest ache in public.
My mouth softened. “No, she isn’t.”
Charm made a tiny sound.
Ryan looked at her. “You okay?”
She slid her sunglasses down over her eyes. “Allergies.”
“Inside a Waffle House?” Ryan asked.
“The syrup is aggressive.”
