“Well, I didn’t listen to you about staying put upstairs with Mason, so I figured I’d make it up to you,” I joke.

“No, really, Thea.” He grows serious. There’s no space between us at all now; I’m pressed right up against him, feeling the contrast of his hard, sculpted body against the softness of my own. “The last thing I ever want is for you to get hurt. And I know you like to just jump in without thinking about it, but there was just something in Ryan’s eyes. Plus, everyone had their phones out and—”

“I know, Aiden,” I say, my heart squeezing and tightening at his words. “I know I need to start thinking things through. I don’t want to jeopardize my life here. I’m making the most of whatever time we have left.”

His face darkens. He doesn’t like thinking about it, and neither do I, and just knowing that makes my knees weak. I rise up on my tiptoes and Aiden’s already reading my mind because he brings a possessive hand to my face, his lips meeting mine halfway. The pressure of his mouth against mine is perfect and heat spreads through my body. Aiden gently guides me backward until I feel a wall press against my back, our kiss deepening until I am consumed by all things Aiden. My hand slides down his chest, feeling the contours of his body. It slips under his shirt, and his abs contract at my touch. I love that I can cause that kind of reaction from him.

“Put your clothes back on, we’re coming down!” Noah’s voice carries to us from upstairs.

With excruciating effort, we pull apart, catching our breath as Noah, Annalisa, Julian, and Charlotte make their way down the stairs. I fix Aiden’s hair since I messed it up, and we step apart just as they come into view.

“Why did you assume we had no clothes on?” I ask, hand on my hip.

Noah plops down on one of the couches. “Aiden was down here, then I saw you come down here. So naturally that means the two of you were probably getting it on.”

I open my mouth to deny it, but nothing comes out. He was right, gotta give him that.

Aiden ignores Noah’s statement and sits across from him. “Is everything okay upstairs?”

“Yup,” Julian answers. “Mason and Chase are passed out, the house is mostly clean, and Joey packed up his DJ equipment.”

“I want to visit Luke,” Annalisa randomly blurts out.

We all turn to look at her, and she looks uncharacteristically nervous.

“I just—I haven’t seen him since that day. He put me on his list of approved visitors, all of us, actually. I never considered visiting, but I think the first step in proving his innocence is just talking to him. If we can really dig, we can maybe find out what really happened.”

“You think he’s innocent?” Charlotte asks.

“We’re going to prove that he’s innocent?” Noah asks at the same time.