I lean back, sipping my drink, watching them banter across the table. Violet is shining in a way I haven’t seen in a long, long time.

It’s subtle—the way she leans in just a little closer when Elias talks, the way her smile lingers a beat longer than usual—but it’s there.

That spark. That bright, ridiculous, hopeful thing that’s been missing from her for too long.

And Elias…he’s eating it up. Every glance, every grin. Like he already knows he’s in trouble and he’s not even trying to fight it.

It’s sweet. It’s fast. And it feels good.

After everything Violet’s been through—all the heartbreaks and dead ends—watching her light up like this makes something inside me ache in the best way.

Elias glances around. “Excuse me for a moment, ladies. Be right back.”

He slides out of the booth, tossing his napkin in his seat before heading toward the back of the restaurant.

The second he’s out of earshot, Violet leans into me, grabbing my wrist like she’s about to deliver a life-or-death confession.

“Mags! My ovaries went into overdrive the second I saw him.” She is wide-eyed, dead-ass serious.

I choke on my sweet tea, coughing as I laugh.

“Violet!”

“I’m so fucking serious,” she says, flailing a hand. “I think I got pregnant with his little Samoan baby just by standing next to him. And I’m not even mad about it.”

I laugh harder, doubling over a little in the booth. God, it’s good to laugh like this. To be like this.

But honestly? I get it. Alex and Elias come from the same mold. I remember how my heart sped up when I first saw my big guy.

Violet leans closer, lowering her voice to a whisper even though Elias is nowhere near.

“Will you be mad at me if I fuck him?” She looks so serious that she might as well be asking for a kidney. “Mags, I really want to fuck him.”

I laugh so hard my ribs hurt. “I don’t care. Just… don’t do it on my couch please.”

Violet grins, the kind that says she’s already planning trouble.

“Don’t worry. I have plans. Filthy plans. Plans that are not couch-appropriate. I’ll take him to my apartment.”

“He’s my bodyguard right now. You can’t just whisk him off for mattress wrestling with optional choking. I need him in one piece.”

Violet waves a hand, unbothered. “You’ll be flying back to Dallas to be with your man soon enough, leaving his brother here. Which means––” She grins even wider. “He’s all mine.”

I’m still laughing when Elias returns, sliding back into the booth with that charming Sebring grin.

Violet and I exchange a look—loaded with mischief and a thousand unspoken things—and burst out laughing all over again.

I’m hopeful for Vi.