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I let out a relieved breath.

“You can stop worrying for now,” he said.

I dragged my sleeve across my face. “I know. It’s just hard.”

I set the tablet back on the coffee table and pushed off the couch.

Sadie had always been the one to think ahead and take care of details before they turned into problems. She would have settled in with Theo’s family by now, somewhere stable, just like Kirby.

I tucked the piece of paper with her new address into my back pocket.

“Two hours,” I said, thinking out loud. “That’s not far away at all.”

Luke stood and took one look at my expression before he shook his head. “Not today. It’s late. We won’t have light for much longer.”

“We’ve driven at night before.”

“With three of us—and you were nearly bitten at the childcare centre.”

“But she’s right there,” I said, the words coming faster now. “Almost within reach.”

“Ava.”

He’d only uttered my name, and yet his tone made me stop and wait.

“If we go now,” he said, “we’re doing it blind. Tired. On roads we don’t know, with more of them out there than we’ve ever seen before.”

Every instinct screamed to keep arguing my case. Two hours was nothing given how far we’d come, but underneath it all sat the ache in my bones, the heaviness of my eyelids. I’d barely stopped since my plane landed.

“How am I supposed to sleep knowing she’s not here?”

“With me right beside you.”

He’d answered on reflex, like it required no thought at all. Everything was so straightforward with him.

I took in the dark eyes I’d come to trust, the slight curl in his hair, and the rough stubble lining his jaw. “Luke.”

His gaze stayed locked on me for the longest time, the ghost of a smile hovering at his mouth. “All I care about is making sure you’re safe.”

Warmth unfurled in my gut, and I couldn’t answer at first. The heat flickering in his eyes stole my breath.

We hadn’t crossed this line until now, but he wouldn’t make a move. Not with my tears freshly dried and my future still up in the air—but I had a feeling he wouldn’t complain if I did.

When I took a small step forward, his focus dropped to my mouth and lingered. “Careful,” he said. “Think it through.”

“I’m so tired of thinking.”

I moved closer until our chests almost pressed together, and his eyes turned a little feral.

Still, he held back.

“Am I reading this all wrong?” I clutched his hoodie and pulled his head down until our noses were almost touching. Surely the electricity wasn’t all in my head? “Do you want me?”

He looked me straight in the eye, jaw clenched, hands still not touching any part of me. “Yeah.” Then he deliberately slid the side of his nose against mine, and my God, a shiver ran straight down my spine. “It’s just… the timing.”

“We’ve never been alone before, and we’re stuck here until morning. There’s never been a better time.”

For a moment, we both froze, then his mouth moved a fraction closer. He dampened his lower lip and murmured, “Last chance.”