Ever After Awaits (Layla) novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Layla POV

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When Xavier and I step back into the glow of the firelight, a hush settles around us that’s

comfortable and warm. The kind that speaks more than any words ever could. Cade, Hunter, and AJ look up from their spots around the low–burning fire, their gazes lingering on us, each look carving something soft into my chest.

Cade’s grin is lazy and knowing, his eyes flicking between me and Xavier before he leans back on one

elbow, like he’s exactly where he wants to be. AJ tips his chin in acknowledgment, but there’s a flicker in his eyes–something unreadable and intense–that sends a ripple through me.

Hunter doesn’t smirk or tease. Just lets his eyes move over me slowly, reverently, like he’s checking that I’m okay. Like he’s seeing all the unspoken things I haven’t figured out how to say just yet. His stare doesn’t burn–it anchors me.

No one asks where Xavier and I were. No one needs to.

The Bluetooth speaker is still humming in the background, playing a mellow acoustic track, as the fire crackles low and tosses sparks into the night sky.

I curl up on the blanket beside Cade, my knee brushing his as I settle in, and he doesn’t shift away. Xavier takes a seat next to AJ on the fallen tree trunk, and they exchange a glance I don’t even try to decipher. Hunter rises from the lawn chair he was sitting on, rolling his shoulders out before tossing another log onto the fire. It hisses for a second and then flares to life again.

We finish off the last of the drinks and snacks in an easy, companionable silence. It’s the kind that hums with everything we’ve said—and everything we haven’t.

Cade nudges my foot with his, his bare toes brushing the side of mine before he wordlessly hooks our pinkies together in a gesture that’s more intimate than any full–body hug. His eyes twinkle with mischief, but his smile is sweet and playful. Like we’re sharing a secret joke that doesn’t need words for the punchline to land.

AJ hands me the last two marshmallows from the packet, and his fingers brush mine, slowly and deliberately, all while his eyes hold mine for a few beats. There’s something unreadable there, not heavy per se, but not light either. Like he’s trying to memorize the way I look in this moment. Dipping my head, I pop the one marshmallow into my mouth and feel a faint blush creep up my

neck.

Hunter, who’s still standing, shrugs off his flannel that he must have put on while Xavier and I were gone, saunters over, and drapes it over my shoulders. He doesn’t say anything; he doesn’t need to.

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8:53 Fri, Sep 19

Chapter 146: Layla POV

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His shirt smells of spiced vanilla and smoke, and it wraps around me like a second skin. When I glance up at him, his eyes soften, and he gives me the faintest of nods. That’s all. That’s Hunter.

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I feel cocooned in a kind of quiet safety–each of them staking no claim, and making no demands of me. They’re just…being there. Fully and completely. Without needing to possess any part of this or

1. me.

After a few more lazy conversations, we start to pack up all the chairs, coolers, food, etc., while the easy lull of the evening settles deeper into our bones.

Cade and Xavier move toward the water’s edge, gathering the floaties they started deflating earlier, and a couple of beach towels we laid out so they could begin to dry out. Their banter carries back to where AJ and I are gathering up all the garbage, and even though it’s low and amusing, it’s filled

with the kind of familiarity that only comes with time and trust.

“You do realize you almost tipped me over with that last cannonball of yours, right?” Xavier asks him dryly.

Cade snorts. “Oh, please. That donut floatie had structural integrity until your bony ass floated it all

the way to the deep end.”

Their laughter mingles with the music that’s still playing, and I find myself smiling again.

AJ strolls over to the fire pit and rolls up the blankets, then shoves the last of the leftover drinks and snacks into an oversized beach bag. As he walks past me to place it all in the back of Hunter’s truck,

his hand brushes across my lower back. And even though the touch is fleeting and featherlike, it

leaves a trail behind that crackles like static up my spine. My breath hitches, and I pretend to adjust the flannel Hunter gave me in an attempt to bring my heart rate down.

Hunter collapses the beach umbrellas and folds the lawn chairs before placing them in his truck bed. Once done, he pauses next to me and his gaze drifts down to my hands where they’re fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. His voice is quiet when he speaks. “You okay, Beautiful?”

I glance up at him, caught off guard by the simplicity yet depth of the question. I nod. “Yeah. Really

okay, actually.”

He studies my face for a second longer before giving me a small, satisfied smile.

When Xavier throws sand on the embers in the fire pit, the last remnants of our cozy fire crackle one last time before fading into darkness. Hunter’s truck’s headlights flick on, casting an eerie glow over the surface of the now placid lake, and the night hushes around us.

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8:53 Fri, Sep 19

Chapter 146: Layla POV

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Hunter calls out to me casually, “Layla, you’re riding with me.”

There’s no room for argument in his tone, but there’s no pressure either–just a steadfast certainty.

“Try not to miss me too much, Sunshine,” Cade says with a wink as he slides into the passenger seat of Xavier’s car. Xavier’s already behind the wheel, and even though he doesn’t say a word, the glance

he sends my way as he shuts his door is warm and lingering–like a silent promise.

AJ silently slips into the truck’s back seat, then locks eyes with me for a moment before closing his

door and leaning back, his presence solid and steady.

I climb into the passenger seat, and the leather’s warm beneath my thighs from the lingering heat of

the day. As Hunter starts up the engine, his right hand slides across the center console, and without

an ounce of hesitation, I reach for it and lace our fingers together as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. His thumb starts to stroke mine in slow, grounding circles–just like he always does when

I need to remember I’m safe.

A few seconds later, as we’re weaving our way through the trees, AJ leans forward from behind and

gently places his right hand on the back of my neck. His touch is light and not at all demanding. It’s

just another gesture to anchor me after the eventful day we all shared. His fingertips move in slow,

soothing patterns, tracing along my hairline and down to the base of my skull, and all I’m capable of in that moment is to close my eyes and let myself lean into his touch.

Neither man speaks. They don’t need to. Because everything they’re saying is already etched into their small gestures.

The truck hums beneath us, and the headlights cut through the quiet road ahead while the lake

shrinks in the rearview mirror, its surface now still and silver under the night sky.

My body relaxes fully. And as I’m wrapped in the heat of Hunter’s palm and the slow, grounding pressure of AJ’s fingertips, I don’t just feel cared for–I feel chosen.

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