Page 352 of Ruthless Court

He looks down at me.

“You staying long enough for breakfast?”

I smile at the television.

“Keep up, babe.”

The room erupts all over again.

The credits start rolling at twelve forty-seven.

Noah is the first to move.

He groans like someone twice his age and stretches both arms over his head.

“Five-thirty lift.”

Eli checks his phone.

“Why would you say that out loud?”

“Because suffering shared is suffering reduced.”

“That isn’t how suffering works.”

Jalen pushes himself off the floor.

“I have treatment at six.”

Noah points toward him. “See? Worse.”

“Not a competition.”

“Everything is a competition.”

One by one, the room begins to break apart.

Bowls carried toward the kitchen.

Blankets tossed over couch backs.

Arguments over who left a protein shaker beneath the coffee table.

Normal.

Easy.

Until Eli disappears down the hall.

Then Noah.

Then Jalen.

And suddenly there’s one fact left sitting in the middle of the room with me.

I’m spending the night.

With Kane.