Page 155 of Illegal Formation
Just this.
Love.
Messy, loud, beautiful love.
I glanced up, finding Braden watching me from across the room.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t have to.
Because I knew.
He saw me as his family now.
And he was mine, too.
Later that night, the cabin finally quieted.
Not completely — it never really did with this group — but enough that the laughter had dulled to low murmurs, the firehad burned down to glowing embers, and the world outside had been wrapped in a fresh layer of snow. The kids were asleep, the adults soaking in our last night together before we got back to the real world tomorrow.
I slipped out onto the back porch, tugging Braden’s hoodie tighter around me as the cold nipped at my cheeks.
The door creaked open behind me a second later.
“Had to escape the madness?” Braden asked, his voice low and warm.
I smiled as he stepped up beside me, his arm instantly wrapping around my shoulders, pulling me into his side like second nature. “Just wanted to get some fresh air.”
We stood like that for a moment, just watching the snow fall, each of us inhaling deep breaths of pine and snow.
“You have fun?” he asked.
“Mm,” I hummed. “I think Mary and I have a whole sleeve planned now.”
He huffed a laugh. “I am not even a little surprised.”
“And Julep is dead serious about pole lessons.”
“Oh, she absolutely is.”
“And Riley…” I exhaled softly, my fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie. “Riley got me thinking.”
He shifted slightly, angling toward me. “Yeah?”
I nodded, then hesitated — just for a second — before turning in his arms so I could see his face.
“Claire pulled me aside before the break,” I said. “She knows I was planning to turn in my uniform at the end of the season.”
His expression didn’t change, but his hands tightened on me just a fraction. “Okay.”
“She asked me not to.”
That got his attention. “What did you say?”
I smiled, a little breathless now. “Well… if it was just to stay and dance on the field, I might have said no. But it’s different.”
He arched a brow, waiting.
