Page 92 of Through the Storm

She exhales, a soft sound that tells me everything.

My hands trace her hips, lingering, grounding her before I lean in, my mouth brushing her shoulder as I whisper, “You look so good like this.”

She presses back into my touch, trusting, open. “Ben,” she breathes.

Yeah. I’m done for.

I stay close, holding her steady as I take her a little harder, the sounds she makes undoing me completely.

“God, Ben. Oh my God.”

When she comes apart beneath me, I follow with a groan, my mouth at her neck, my body pressed close like I can’t get enough.

And later, when the lights are low and the night settles gentlyaround us, I press my lips to her temple and hold her like I’ve already decided something permanent.

Because I have.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

katy

FANTASY LIFE

Hand in hand,Ben leads us through Ella’s backyard, past all the wild roses, until we reach the little bonfire at the beach. It’s a nice and cozy little beach setup, logs stacked neatly, flames crackling low and steady. Someone’s got a speaker going, with soft music drifting over the sand. The sun is setting, and the ocean is calm tonight, like it knows we have enough to deal with already.

Ella hands me a blanket as soon as she sees me.

“You’re cold,” she says.

“I’m not?—”

“You are,” she insists, wrapping it around my shoulders anyway.

Ben laughs and presses a kiss into my hair like this is the most natural thing in the world. Like we’ve always been a couple. “Just let her baby you. She doesn’t really have an off switch.”

I relent, and Ben helps me sit in one of the wide chairs by the fire. Then he settles right next to me, slinging an arm around my shoulders. It feels so natural and familiar. It feels like this is where I’m meant to be.

Teenage Katy would absolutely be losing her mind that this is what her life looks like. She used to lie awake picturing nights likethis—a fire on the beach, laughter carrying over the water, Ben beside her with his arm around her like he chose her.

Back then, it was a fantasy I was embarrassing myself by wanting. I was sure he would never see me that way.

Except he does. And this is real.

And he’s mine.

I lean back into his chest, letting myself feel it fully, and think,Wow. She’d be so happy.

We’re all gathered in a loose circle around the fire. Rebecca’s curled up on Tyler’s lap, and Leo and Mateo are both here too, each attached to their flavor of the night—or month, respectively. That’s what Ella calls them, at least. Hopefully only behind their backs. With her, you never know.

And Ella is tucked between Declan and Wyatt on the low bench. Her back rests against Declan’s chest while Wyatt leans in beside her to hand her another marshmallow, close enough that their shoulders brush like they don’t even notice anymore.

They look…synchronized. And extremely happy. All three of them.

Which is weird. Because if you’d told me last week that this exact configuration would exist without someone bleeding, I would’ve laughed in your face.

I tilt my head, squinting at them. “Are you guys… a threesome now?”

Everyone looks at me.