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“He’s all the family you have,” Avery says, her tone solemn. “I don’t want what happened with us to come between you. He was wrong, but he’s been trying to show you he’s sorry for months. And we’re together now,” she reminds me. “That’s all that matters.”

“A little more groveling won’t hurt him,” I grumble.

Avery shoots me a withering look, so I sigh. “Fine. I’ll send him a text saying we’re back at school.”

“That’s a start.” She grins, having won—this girl always wins with me. “And what else do you know, QB?”

“I know,” I continue, my voice dropping lower, “that I love every single thing about you. The good, the bad, the complicated, all of it.”

She shifts in her seat, leaning across the console to press a soft kiss to my cheek. “I love you too. Even when you’re being disgustingly perfect.”

We drive in comfortable silence for a while, the radio playing softly between us. The highway stretches ahead, carrying us back to Ann Arbor, back to the place where we found our way back to each other.

I find Avery in the kitchen, her back turned toward me as she fills her glass at the sink. Behind me, Jace and Chris are arguing over takeout options while West lounges on the couch, watching a documentary on his phone about the cosmos.

I smile, watching her for a moment. The setting sun streams through the window above the sink, casting her in a golden glow. She’s changed into my old football jersey and a pair of shorts, her hair pulled up in a messy bun with tendrils escaping around her face.

After we moved her into the dormitories and met her new roommate, we spent some time getting reacquainted with one another in my room. But once wasn’t enough, and I find myself craving her as I quietly cross the kitchen floor and slide my arms around her waist from behind.

She startles slightly, then relaxes against me as I rest my chin on her shoulder, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. I turn my face toward her neck, pressing my lips against her warm skin, and smiling when her pulse jumps.

“Mmmm,” she hums, tilting her head to give me better access. “I thought you were debating dinner options with the guys.”

“Left them to it,” I murmur against her neck. “Had more important things to attend to.”

She sets her glass down and covers my hands with her own, fingers interlacing with mine. “Like what?” she teases, knowing exactly what I mean.

“Like making sure my girlfriend isn’t plotting her escape already.” I turn her to face me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “One day back and already hiding in the kitchen.”

Her smile is soft, intimate. “Not hiding. Just . . . processing. It’s strange being back here with everything so different.”

“Good different or bad different?”

“Good. Definitely good.” She traces a finger along my jaw. “But overwhelming. Last year, I didn’t know if we’d make it this far, if you’d even want me here. Now, here we are, building a life together I never thought we’d have.”

I lean my forehead against hers. “God, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, QB.”

A crash from the living room followed by Jace’s booming voice cuts through our moment.

“I’m telling you, man, Thai food is objectively better than Italian! You’re just too basic to understand the complexity of flavors!”

“Oh, please!” Chris shouts back. “Nothing beats a good carbonara, and you know it! You’re just trying to sound cultured!”

I pull back from Avery with a long-suffering sigh, rolling my eyes toward the ceiling. “Remind me why they’re my friends?”

Avery laughs, the sound light and musical in our small kitchen. She pats my chest consolingly. “Because they’re loyal,they make you laugh, and they’ve never once asked you for an autograph.”

“Yet,” I mutter, but I’m smiling despite myself.

“I heard that!” Chris calls from the living room. “And just so you know, I’m totally getting you to sign my jersey.”

I snort and shake my head as I tug Avery into the living room. West glances up from his phone, smiling when he sees us at the same time Jace and Chris turn to me, asking for a tiebreaker.

“I’m not getting involved,” I say, holding my hands up.

“Fine.” Jace places his hands on his hips, his aqua eyes turning on my girlfriend. “Avery, you get to pick.”