“And are you sure?” Nic asks.

I swallow hard, but the emotion surges through me—the ache of wanting something that’s so close but not yet in my grasp. “So sure.”

“Oh, I see what’s happening,” Ellie says, sitting back and studying me.

“What?” Shay asks. “Because, honestly, I don’t get it.”

“She thinks Carter isn’t sure,” Ellie says, reading me way too well.

Shay snorts. “Well, that’s ridiculous. He’s practically lovesick. I thought you were punishing him, but if this is you waiting to make sure he really wants you, you’re wasting your time.”

Ellie nods. “He’s been working out with his brothers again. Did you know that?”

I straighten. I didn’t know that, but it’s a sign that he’s getting back to his life as it was before the warehouse fire. “That’s good.”

“Do you remember that Levi and I took a month apart after everything with Colton?” Ellie asks, and everyone at the table leans in. We were all around for the days before Colton’s arrest and after they released him. They were hard days. “This morning at the gym, Carter asked Levi how he did it. Carter said he doesn’t want to wait anymore, but he doesn’t want to rush you either.”

My throat is thick. “He really said that?”

Ellie’s eyes are bright as she nods. “Yes, and Levi told me that he told him that it was hard but worth it. Levi said that he had to wait for a signal from me that I was ready.”

Shay arches a brow. “So you’re saying we need to flash the Carter Bat-Signal in the sky?”

Ellie and Molly look at each other and burst into laughter.

“Something like that,” Ellie says.

Nic beams and nods. “I love it. And Isaiah is staying at his grandma’s tonight.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Molly asks Nic, who nods enthusiastically.

“What am I missing?” I ask.

Shay sighs. “I think they’re going to dress you sexy and send you over to seduce my brother.”

“The Carter Bat-Signal,” Ellie says, as if that explains everything.

“It would be the sign he’s waiting for,” Molly says, grinning.

“Oh.” I bite my lip. “Yeah, I could be up for that.”

“Sustenance first,” Molly says, winking at me and pointing to my salad. “You’ll need it.”

Carter

When I answer the door and see Teagan for the first time in two weeks, I’m shirtless, sweaty, and covered in drywall dust. She looks me over, her gaze snagging on my bare chest and then my toolbelt. I’m a mess, but she’s . . . perfect. She’s wearing a red dress that hugs her from its high neckline all the way down to the hem beneath her knees, and with it, those sexy heels with the ribbons that wrap around her ankles.

“Nice shoes,” I say.

“Thanks. Nice tat.”

My breath stalls in my lungs as she reaches out and wipes the white dust off the new lotus tattoo on my left pec. “Thanks.”