Virgil ONE CHRISTMAS LATER The first thing I hear is barking. Tiny barking. Annoyed barking. The sort of barking that sounds entirely too big for the body producing it. I pause halfway up the porch steps, balancing a crate against my hip. “You make a poor surprise, you know,” I grunt. “You’re still supposed to be a secret.” Inside the cabin, Christmas music drifts through the screen door. Clara’s favorite station. The one that starts playing carols immediately after Thanksgiving and doesn’t quit until New Year’s. I know because I’ve listened to every excruciating minute, snowbound for several weeks now.   Has it made me less of a grump? Not…

Raven “You’re cheating.” I don’t even look up from the tomatoes I’m sorting. “Good morning to you, too, Blaze.” “You’ve got peppers hidden back there.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His boots crunch across the gravel path between the garden beds. I continue sorting tomatoes. Very professionally. Very innocently. A shadow falls across my worktable, and I finally glance up, tugging the brim of my straw cowboy hat lower to keep the sun out of my eyes. Blaze stands there in a faded gray T-shirt and jeans, arms folded across his chest, green eyes narrow and shadowed beneath his Stetson. Definitely suspicious. “Show me.” “No.” His jaw drops.…

Mara SIX WEEKS LATER My fingers curl into his cut, body pressed tight against his back. We move across the sand and sage ocean like one thing. Where the pavement ribbon veers off in another dirt road, Maddox slows the bike, following an ancient trail, cut from another time and place. I wear my own helmet now, even has my name on it. A gift from Maddox, an entry into the club. It means more than I probably realize, though I’m trying. At the bottom of a rocky outcropping, he leaves the bike and our helmets, grabbing our belongings and holding my hand as we pick our way up a…

Sloane THREE MONTHS LATER The road should terrify me. Three months ago, it would have. The San Juan Mountains rise around us like ancient things, beautiful and unforgiving beneath the August sun. The narrow mountain road twists ahead, hugging steep drop-offs that still make my stomach lurch if I look for too long. Some things never change. Like gravity. Rhys drives one-handed beside me as if he knows every stone by name. He probably does. “You’re quiet,” he says. I glance over. Sunglasses hide his eyes, but I know the shape of his mouth now. The rough line of it. The way tension lives there until I smooth it away.…

Aiden ONE MONTH LATER Layla’s mouth quirks, and her eyes dart to me. That’s how I know trouble is brewing. She’s talking in low tones to Sage, Stella, and Dream. Planning tonight’s community class. Probably more yoga or stretching. The kind of thing not even green juice can make less awkward. Though the cottage escapades after are… well, totally worth it. Cypress walks past shirtless in shorts he’s worn since high school. Likes to brag about it. Freshman year, if I had to guess. Pretty sure he didn’t have a potbelly back then. Too tight. Too short. Sheer psychological trauma. But I’m the only one wincing. December. I can finally…

Waldon The first thing Marcus does when he sees me is look at my hands. Not my face or Ember. My hands. Almost like he’s checking for fists or signs of a coming throwdown. “Relax,” Ember mutters under her breath, slipping her hand into mine as if it’s nothing. Like we’ve always done this and her brother isn’t currently deciding whether or not to kill me in the parking lot of the Rusty Spur Grill. “I am relaxed,” Marcus says flatly. Yeah, right. Not even a little. “Hey, man,” I say, keeping my tone even. Easy. No attitude or bullshit. This isn’t the station. This isn’t a bar. This is…

Clementine I don’t understand this place. Not really. Not the way they do. Robber’s Roost feels like something older than the club. Older than the men who must stand guard at the edges of it, watching the dark like it might answer back if they stare long enough. The fire snaps low in the pit, throwing shadows that don’t quite behave. The desert stretches out in every direction, empty and endless, like the world forgot this spot on purpose. And still—this is where he brought me. Hammer doesn’t say anything at first. He just stands beside me, close enough that I can feel him without touching him. Heat. Weight. Something…

Scarlett The truck bed creaks under my weight as I shift, staring up at a sky so wide it almost doesn’t feel real. Stars glitter everywhere—sharp and bright—against an endless canvas of black velvet. “Cold?” Donovan’s gruff voice cuts through the quiet in a way that still does something entirely unfair to my insides. We lie in a thick pile of wool blankets. His doing. And yet he’s still worried about keeping me comfortable. “No,” I say. “Just thinking.” “That’s dangerous.” I huff out a laugh. “Says the man who married a stranger in Vegas.” “Wasn’t a stranger,” he says easily. Now I turn my head. “Oh, really?” His hat’s…

Kael The whole damn town is looking at her. I feel it before I see it. The shift in the air, the way voices dip and stall as Eliza steps out beside me, her hand sliding into mine like it belongs there. Because it does. “Kael…” she murmurs, glancing down Raven’s Ridge’s Main Street. “You didn’t have to—” “I did.” My voice drops. “Been hiding you long enough.” Her fingers tighten in mine. “I wasn’t hiding.” “No,” I murmur, guiding her toward the Broken Spur Saloon. “I was.” I push the door open and let her walk in first. Every head turns. I let them look. Let them understand. She’s…