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Her eyes drop to the cup again. “You just Hulked my cup.”

Rhett laughs beside us.

I cut him a look, and the sound dies in his throat.

When I turn back, Sage is rubbing her palm against her skirt.

My stomach drops.

She felt that.

Not the way I did. Not enough to understand what just passed between us. But enough.

“What was that?” She asks, still rubbing her palm against herself.

Ezra’s expression darkens. “Stop touching her.”

Her eyebrows shoot up then she raises both hands between them. “Hi. Owner of the body you’re arguing about.”

That shuts them both up.

She looks at Ezra first. “He didn’t do anything.” Then Rhett. “You didn’t do anything either.” Finally, her attention lands on me. “And you murdered my cup.”

“Yes.”

“Great.” She nods once. “Glad we’re caught up.”

Someone stumbles into her from behind before any of us can respond. She pitches forward, and I reach for her at the same moment Ezra does.

I’m faster.

My hand closes around her waist as I pull her back against me.

The music keeps playing. The crowd keeps moving. Laughter rises around us while the bonfire crackles somewhere behind me. But for one suspended moment, none of it reaches me.

All I feel is her.

Her back is pressed against my chest. The warmth of her body beneath my palm. Her hair brushing against my jaw when she inhales and steadies herself.

Then… I breathe her in.

Smoke and apples cling to her skin, mixed with sweat and the lingering sweetness of whatever she drank earlier. Beneath it all is something deeper. Something buried so far in my memory that recognizing it feels like having an old wound torn open. Something that hasn’t existed on this land since the night we lost her.

McBride.

My fingers tighten around her waist before I can stop them.

She inhales sharply. The sound barely more than a breath, but I hear it.

So does Ezra.

I catch the change in his expression from the corner of my eye, the tension settling into his jaw as his gaze drops to where my hand still rests against her. Rhett, on the other hand, watches us with entirely too much fucking interest.

Then Sage turns her head.

Suddenly, her face is only inches from mine.

Too close.