Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 130

Chapter 130: Layla POV

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When the water starts turning lukewarm, Hunter helps me out of the bath like I’m something delicate, something he’s been entrusted to care for. His hands are strong, but his touch is featherlight as he steadies me with one hand on my waist and the other holding onto mine. Water drips from my skin, curling down my calves and landing on the bathmat beneath my feet with gentle

ease.

He wraps one towel around my torso below my arms like a hug, and then he kneels–right there on the bath mat, still damp himself from the water and steam–and starts drying my legs and feet off. Not hurriedly or awkwardly. Just slow and sure, like he’s done it a hundred times before and will gladly do it a hundred times more.

He then stands, and the towel he’s holding glides over my arms and my upper back, with reverent care, while his knuckles occasionally brush against my skin in ways that make my breath hitch without warning. He doesn’t rush his ministrations, though, even when my cheeks flush under his attention. He notices, of course, because he always does—but he just smiles a little, soft and patient.

He helps me into a fresh pair of soft cotton shorts and a little matching cami—the pink set with tiny

strawberries that I always thought was too childlike to wear in front of anyone. But when he pulls

the cami over my head and smooths it down gently over my stomach, and his fingers brush just lightly enough against the sliver of naked skin between the cami and my shorts‘ waistband to leave goosebumps in their wake, I realize I don’t care. Not with him.

When he finishes, he presses a kiss to the top of my head, and his lips linger longer than necessary,

like he doesn’t want to let go just yet.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmurs, his voice low. “I’m just going to change.”

I nod, still a little dazed from the sweetness of it all, and climb into bed while he disappears down

the hall. The sheets are cool and crisp against my warm skin, and I tuck the comforter over my legs, letting my limbs sink into the mattress like they’ve finally been granted permission to rest.

I reach for my phone on the nightstand, and at my touch, the screen lights up with a soft glow in the dimly lit room. A few lingering notifications blink on the lock screen–some group messages, a random app alert–but I swipe them away and open a message window with Becca.

Me: Can we video chat on Sunday? I have so much to tell you. heart emoji

I hit send, place the phone back, and then roll onto my side just as my door eases open again with a quiet creak. Hunter silently walks in, now dressed in a pair of gray sleep shorts and nothing else,

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Chapter 130: Layla POV

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with his hair slightly mussed from changing in a hurry. He looks like comfort made human, all broad shoulders, bare chest, and warm eyes that soften when they find me waiting for him.

He slides into bed behind me, and the mattress dips gently beneath his weight. Next, the comforter shifts, brushing against my legs as he settles in close, and then, without hesitation, he gently pulls me back around so my head rests on his chest, his heartbeat steady and grounding beneath my ear. One of his arms loops around my waist, firm and familiar, while the other hand finds my arm where it rests on his stomach, and begins a familiar, soothing motion–up and down, up and down–as his fingertips glide softly over my skin.

We talk for a little while in voices that’re hushed by the hour and the glow of my small bedside lamp. Nothing earth–shattering. Just soft pieces of everything and nothing. A shared memory of our first game night. A ridiculous text one of the guys sent earlier this week about snack rations. Him, asking me how the stars looked from atop the Ferris wheel. Me, telling him how hard I laughed when Cade spilled powdered sugar on himself.

Hunter tells me about the way I looked when I stepped in the front door earlier, and how he knew I

was different before I even opened my mouth.

“I love you,” I eventually whisper into his chest, my lips brushing the bare skin over his heart.

“I love you, too,” he replies, like it’s the easiest truth in the world. Like he means it in every language, and across every timeline.

My eyes start to grow heavy, and I let them close, just for a second. Just to feel the rhythm of his breathing underneath my cheek. And to let the exhaustion and softness of the day carry me off.

Later–maybe hours or just moments–my bed shifts again. I feel it in the subtle give of the mattress and the whisper of the cooler air that sneaks underneath the comforter. My body stirs on instinct, not from alarm, but from recognition of his faint citrus scent–my senses blinking awake before my

eyes do.

I blink slowly, my lashes still heavy against my cheeks, to see AJ sitting on the side of my bed, his bulky silhouette backlit by the hallway light. His frame is tall and familiar, Wordlessly safe.

“Hey,” he says softly, as he leans closer to me, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You okay?” I mumble, my voice slurred with sleep but lined with something else, too–concern. Even though I already instinctively know the answer he’s about to give me.

He nods once, his eyes unreadable in the shadows. “Yeah. I just… I needed to hold you.”

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Chapter 130: Layla POV

There’s a pause. And it’s the quiet kind that never feels empty.

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I shift automatically, making space for him without even thinking twice about it. My body seems to know the way, like it’s been waiting for this exact moment. Hunter stirs beside me, but he doesn’t

speak–he just stretches his arm to make room and gently adjusts the blanket so it can cover AJ too.

AJ climbs in on my other side, careful and quiet, like he’s slipping into a dream he doesn’t want to disturb. His arm curls around my waist from behind, grounding me even more. Then his forehead brushes my temple, and I feel the slight scratch of his stubble and the warmth of his breath.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you,” I whisper back, the words barely audible but so full they feel like they glow.

And that’s how I fall asleep again–tucked safely between two hearts that love me. One on either side. Hunter’s steady breathing in front of me. AJ’s warmth behind me, while the room is dim and

still, like even the night knows not to interrupt us.

In that moment, I feel held and cherished, as hope blooms in the quiet spaces of the night.

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