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“Hunter looks at Lex and that baby like they’re the only stars in his sky,” Cherry adds as she adjusts her sunglasses and pulls onto the road. “It’s nauseating. In a cute way.”

I glance between them, my heart squeezing a little in my chest. The teasing, the warmth, the way they talk about their men like they’re more than just lovers—they’re home.

I miss Eddie with a kind of quiet ache that wraps around my ribs.

Turning toward Frankie, I smile. “So, what about you? You have a man?”

He gasps like I’ve proposed to him. “Laney, that is a spa story. And trust me, you want the full, uncut version. There will be hand gestures. Maybe tears.”

Lexi laughs. “And glitter. Always glitter.”

“Also,” he adds with a wink, “it involves a yacht, a Gemini, and a very illegal parrot.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Okay, now I really need that story.”

Cherry just grins. “Told you this would be fun. Let’s go get pampered, gossip like we’re getting paid for it, and remind you that you’re still a goddess, even when you feel like a ghost.”

And just like that, I let myself get swept into their chaos—glamorous, ridiculous, and weirdly healing.

And for the first time in days, I actually breathe.

We pull up to a house that could absolutely be on the cover of Architectural Digest. Sleek lines, clean glass, soft wood paneling, and not a blade of grass out of place. There’s a quiet luxury to it—expensive without being showy. Like the kind of place you don’t stumble on by accident.

As soon as Cherry parks, the front door swings open.

Jake steps out like a damn magazine ad come to life. Tall, broad-shouldered, and all casual perfection in gray joggers and a soft black tee that clings to muscles that do not belong to a man who sits at a desk. His dark brown hair is slightly tousled, like he just ran a hand through it on his way to kiss his wife—and judging by the way his eyes light up the second he sees her, I’d bet he was already thinking about it.

Cherry barely shuts the car door before he’s there, curling an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss that makes me glance away.

It’s not PDA for attention—it’s real. Grounded. Like he’s been waiting all morning just to taste her mouth.

“Hi,” she says against his lips, smug and breathless.

“Hi,” he murmurs back, hand spread protectively across her lower back like he owns every inch of her.

When they finally break apart, he turns to me with a warm smile. “You must be Laney. I’m Jake.”

I shake his hand, trying to blink the swoon out of my system. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for watching Merlyn.”

“My pleasure,” he says, crouching down to greet the pup. Merlyn gives him an instant tail-wag of approval. “I’ve been dying for an excuse to get away from Hunter and the spreadsheet war.”

“Spreadsheet war?”

Speak of the devil.

Hunter appears in the doorway, somehow even taller than Jake, with darker hair and this intense, alpha energy that could probably make entire rooms go silent. He’s dressed in all black—tailored joggers, fitted zip-up, and the kind of posture that says CEO and black belt.

In his arms, he holds a toddler.

Tiny, dark-haired, clutching a plush fox and blinking up at us with sleepy curiosity.

Mini-Hunter.

My heart squeezes so tight I forget to breathe.

“Hi,” he says, walking over and kissing Lexi like no one else is here. It’s sweet but loaded, the kind of kiss that speaks volumes in one second. When he pulls back, he nods to me. “You must be Laney. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too,” I manage, quietly melting.