Chapter 24

They swam.

Cassian had dared her first—splashing water at her feet until she kicked off the dock and dove in, fully submerged, the cold shocking her lungs and making her laugh as she resurfaced. The lake was deeper than it looked, and cleaner. Cool currents swirled around her legs, fish darted below, and the trees surrounding them stood like ancient sentinels under the sun.

She floated on her back for a while, watching clouds slide past. Cassian swam near her, relaxed in a way she'd never seen. He laughed more. Teased less sharply. His walls were still there, but they shimmered now instead of bristled.

They played. Splashing, racing. The cousins joined in, shouting and diving and creating chaos, and for a while, everything felt bright.

Even Nicole, who perched at the edge of the dock in her perfect swimsuit, seemed like background noise.

By sunset, the water turned golden. Fireflies danced in the thickening dusk, and the lake reflected the first stars of the night.

Sienna wrapped herself in a towel, hair dripping, skin cool and tingling. She hadn't laughed that hard in ages.

Later, they gathered around the firepit. Someone had pulled out an old guitar. Someone else passed around bottles of beer and marshmallows on skewers. Smoke curled into the night, and the fire crackled as logs popped and shifted.

Cassian sat across the fire from her, beer in hand, leaning back on one arm. The firelight made his skin look bronze, catching in the cut of his jaw, the edge of his collarbone. His hair was still damp, pushed back from his forehead. He looked like a memory. Like a dream she hadn't dared to have until now.

Nicole sat beside him, angled toward him with her legs crossed, her laugh too loud. She leaned in when she spoke, brushed her hair over her shoulder like a signal flare.

Cassian barely looked at her.

He was watching the fire.

Then—when he did look up—it was at Sienna.

And something in her chest twisted.

She didn't know what this was. What they were. But it was dangerous. Because it wasn't his hands that drew her now. It wasn't just his body. It was him.

The way his eyes softened when he smiled. The way he looked at her like she was the only person in a room full of noise. The way he glanced away sometimes, hand brushing his chin when he was embarrassed—and now she realized, maybe it wasn't just a habit. Maybe it was how he hid his blushes.

And he blushed a lot.

She never noticed before. Never let herself notice. At work, he was all arrogance and control. But here, in the firelight, he was something else. Something more tender. More human.

And she was falling.

Hard.

Her fingers itched. Her chest ached. It was too much. Too real.

She never felt like this with Theo. Never.

She'd liked Theo. Respected him. But he never made her stomach twist from a glance. Never made her dizzy from a single word. Never made her want to climb inside his warmth and stay.

Cassian reached for a second beer. Their fingers brushed when he passed her one.

Her skin lit up.

She took a swig, trying to cool herself from the inside.

But the alcohol hit faster than she thought. The buzz slipped down her spine like a spark.

And her eyes—traitorous, hungry—fell to his hand.

His knuckles. The veins on the back of his hand. His fingers. Relaxed, draped over his knee. Fingers that had once touched her skin. Traced her wrist. Brushed her neck. Dipped into her—

She squeezed her legs together.

This is bad.

She took another drink.

Cassian looked over then, brows lifting slightly. "You okay?"

She nodded. Too quickly. "Just warm."

"Want to take a walk?"

Her heart somersaulted.

He stood, offered his hand.

She stared at it.

That stupid, beautiful hand.

And took it.

And even though the fire burned behind them and the cousins kept laughing, and Nicole's eyes followed them like knives—Sienna didn't care.

Because when he curled his fingers around hers and pulled her gently to her feet, she felt it again.

The fall.

And this time, she didn't resist it.