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“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, shaking his head at me.

“I think this club is amazing,” I told him, glancing over to see Kylo coming back from the tortoise enclosure, the tray for his greens tucked under his arm.

In the front yard, Caymen was mowing the lawn, shirt off, body slick with sweat.

Behind us, over at Che and Sass’s house, little kids laughed and squealed.

This was community, family, love.

It was the village everyone talked about.

It was the dream.

And I was beyond excited to be a part of it. Especially after being on my own for the hardest part of new motherhood.

“Yeah,” Coast agreed. “It is.”

“Where’s my baby?” Jade called from the driveway, making both Coast and I laugh.

“Looks like we have the next hour or two off,” I said as Jade came around the back of the house. “What should we do? Watch a show? Do laundry?”

“I got a better idea,” he said, pushing Lainey’s float toward Jade, then taking my hand and pulling me with him.

But not toward the clubhouse.

Toward the overgrown greenery at the edge of the backyard.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To fuck in the shooting range.”

I had a feeling that was going to define a future with a man like Coast.

Sweet, soft domestic moments.

Followed by something wild and fun.

But, yeah, we totally fucked in the shooting range.

Coast - 3 months

“So, am I just supposed to accept being kidnapped?” Velle asked as I drove down the road from the clubhouse, “or can I ask where we’re going?”

I glanced over at him.

“We’re going to my house.”

“Your house. When did you buy a house?”

“When I saw the one I grew up in go up for auction.”

“Seems like there’s a lot to unpack there,” Velle said, flicking through the stations on the radio.

I felt like it said something that I’d chosen Velle to go with me on this errand. I could have picked someone like York or Caymen—men who would tag along while letting me keep my secrets. Or, you know, do it alone like I would have done in the past.

“The short of it is: I spent my teens there, raising the revolving door of foster kids my parents signed up for, so they could live off the checks.”

Velle’s brows shot up, but his head nodded.