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Greyson had always meant everything to me. He was the best of me, more than my best friend. And that had shifted in the past month into something deeper. Somethingvital. I couldn’t wait to see how much deeper we got by this time next year.

But next year, True would be with us. Even if we had to zigzag across the state from King’s Town to Charlotte and back again to make it happen.

Even without my parents, I was okay. I’d always been okay without them but this year, it was official. The bridge had been burned and I wasn’t looking back.

My only focus was my bond with my sister, Lottie. I’d agreed to meet up with her a few times after telling her I only wanted a relationship with her if it meant she wasn’t helping my parents keep tabs on me. And now that I was back to seeing my therapist weekly instead of doing monthly check-ins, I knew how to keep those boundaries straight.

The misplaced guilt I felt for cutting them off didn’t evaporate overnight, but I was working on it.

Greyson mumbled something in his sleep, then his arm flexed around me as he pressed into me from behind.

“Merry Christmas, Noah.”

The combination of his sleepy voice and morning wood nudging me made my mouth run dry.

I couldn’t form words that made sense when he sounded andfeltlike that, so I turned to face him instead of answering.

His eyes were barely open, but his smile was immediate when he saw my face.

After driving True to the airport so she could go to King’s Town, we drove to his parents’ house and stayed there all day.

Before we left Bliss Peak, Greyson booked a room for us that accepted pets, only for Duchess to never make it to our hotel room. After I took her out the carrier yesterday, his mom hadn’tput her down. And when we tried to get her when we left last night, she turned pitiful eyes on us and asked if Duchess could stay the night.

She was the most spoiled cat I ever met. And it didn’t help that she didn’t play hard to get. She liked every damn body and had them wrapped around her finger. Especially Greyson.

A smile tipped up my lips.

“What you smiling at?” His voice was still scratchy when he turned my chin to meet his gaze.

Without his glasses on, I got sucked into his eyes right away. Curiosity and something softer lingered in the brown depths.

“I’m happy, that’s it,” I said simply. I’d been happy enough beforethis. But I washappiernow. I didn’t know I would ever trust myself to love someone again, but I had. With two people who made me feel like their hearts had been made to beat in time with mine.

Greyson’s firm grasp on my chin held me in place when he moved his head to kiss my jaw, whispering, “I like the sound of that. I always want you happy, Noah.”

His arm found its way back to my torso, his fingertips dancing over my bare skin.

“We went to sleep early as fuck last night,” he groaned, burying his face in my neck.

“We gotta leave in thirty minutes if we wanna get to breakfast on time,” I told him when it felt like his breaths were a little too even. “Grey, get up.”

“I’m up,” he insisted, not moving. His lips caressed my neck, his hand resting over my heart. I knew he could feel the rhythm change now that his lips were on me.

“Thirty minutes, Grey. You want the shower first?”

I deserved an award for the way I kept my voice steady when he massaged my skin with his tongue.

“Thirty minutes.” My reminder came out shallow, in a voice that didn’t sound like mine.

Greyson was on top of me now, smirking as he watched me bite my lip. “I love your fucking face, Noah.”

“You saying that cuz you wanna get in my pants.”

We both laughed and that was the wrong thing to do. His chest collided with mine, the vibration of his laugh moving through me like a shockwave. But the rest of him collided with me too. His chest on mine. My pelvis under his.

His dick jumped against mine and I couldn’t help the way my waist wined on its own.

“Thirty min?—”