Chapter Thirty-Four
MILA
The first thing I noticed when Luke and I arrived at the inn was the stillness. Not the strained quiet Blackwood had worn while rumors crawled through the halls and everyone watched each other too carefully.
This was different.
The ocean moved steadily beyond the low bluff behind the building, waves folding into the dark sand in long, patient rhythms that seemed completely uninterested in anything happening beyond the shoreline.
Luke parked beside a row of wind-bent cypress trees and cut the engine.
Neither of us moved. The headlights faded, leaving the small coastal town wrapped in soft amber streetlights and the distant glow of the harbor.
“And no one knows where we are?” I asked. Mom did. What I meant was our friends. I wanted him to myself this weekend. If they knew, there was a good chance someone would show up tomorrow.
Luke glanced toward the ocean before answering. “I needed somewhere no one would bother us.”
The words warmed my chest.
The past few weeks had moved quickly—federal charges surfacing against Lorne, Dunn’s name beginning to circulate in places it never had before.
For months, everything in our lives had felt like a storm building. Now the pressure had finally broken.
Luke stepped out of the SUV and came around to my side before I could reach the handle.
The inn itself looked weathered but welcoming, blue siding faded by decades of salt air. A soft porch light illuminated the wooden railing wrapping the second floor.
His hand came to rest at my waist as we walked toward the narrow staircase leading up to the small room he’d rented overlooking the water.
When Luke pushed open the door to the room, the first thing I noticed was the window. The entire wall opened toward the ocean. Moonlight spilled across the water in a silver path that stretched toward the horizon. For several seconds, I simply stood there taking it in.
“No one watching,” Luke murmured behind me.
His voice carried a quiet relief I recognized immediately. No rumors. No whispers. No eyes following us through the halls of Blackwood. Just the ocean.
I stepped onto the balcony outside the room, wrapping my arms around myself as the mild air moved across my skin.
Luke joined me a second later. For a while, we simply watched the tide.
“I think this is the first time I’ve exhaled in months,” I admitted.
His hand slipped into mine. “I noticed.”
I glanced toward him. “You did?”
“You stopped scanning every room you walk into.”
A small laugh escaped me. “Old habits.”
“They kept you alive.”
The truth of that lingered quietly between us.
For years, my life had revolved around running—from the night Darren died, from the people who might have wanted my mother silent, from the secrets that chased us out of Blackwood.
Standing there beside Luke, it was the first time it felt like we were finally running toward something instead.
The tide rolled in beneath the moon.
Luke leaned his forearms against the balcony railing. “Logan’s gone.”
I turned toward him, the pads of my fingers ghosting across my lips where he’d forced a brutal kiss. “I thought he was just suspended.”
“Not after Coach heard everything that happened. He was removed from the team—permanently.” A faint edge crept into his voice.
A strange sense of closure moved through me. Logan had once been a shadow at the edges of everything that went wrong at Blackwood.
Now he was simply… gone.
“And Elise?” I asked. Things had been kept tightly wrapped at school regarding those two. We’d all known they were under disciplinary measures, but it had appeared only as suspensions. That was where the rumors had ended, and no one seemed the wiser.
Luke huffed softly. “Her dad transferred her to a boarding school back east.”
Exile. Quiet and controlled.
“She won’t be back,” he added.
The cypress trees bent further as the wind shifted.
“What about Charles Dunn?”
Luke’s gaze moved toward the horizon. “Investigators are still digging.”
I studied his face. “But?”
“But Victor Langley isn’t hiding anymore.”
That name had surfaced more often in the weeks since Darren’s body was found. The strategist behind Dunn’s corporate structure. The man who had placed Darren inside King Enterprises years ago.
“Marcus thinks Langley underestimated Darren,” Luke continued.
“How?”
“He assumed Darren would stay loyal to Dunn.”
“But Darren flipped.”
Luke nodded.
“After meeting my mom.” The words felt strange out loud. “He realized both companies were dirty.”
Luke’s fingers wrapped gently around mine. A wave broke below us, the sound echoing faintly against the cliffside.
“My mom finally told me everything,” I continued quietly.
Luke turned slightly toward me.
“She and Darren were planning to leave Blackwood.” The admission felt heavy. “They knew the companies were corrupt. Darren wanted to expose it.”
Luke didn’t interrupt.
“He thought if the truth came out, it would protect people.” The irony stung.
“He was right,” Luke said. “Just later than he expected.”
We both watched the dark water. Then Luke nudged my shoulder gently. “What about your mom now?”
I smiled faintly. “She and Edwardo are leaving once we head to college.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly. “Back to where he lives?”
“Yeah.” The warmth in my chest deepened. “They’re going back to the city where Edwardo built his career.”
“That’s good.”
I rested my head lightly against his shoulder. “Dominick’s people are pulling back too.”
He glanced down at me. “Already?”
“Not completely.” I traced small circles across the back of his hand. “They’re staying close until my mom testifies.”
“After that?”
“They believe the investigation has shifted the danger away from us.” The idea still felt surreal. For so long, our lives had been shaped by fear. Now the fear was fading.
He reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from my face before drawing back to lean against the railing. “I found a house to rent in Michigan.”
The words pulled my attention away from the ocean. I turned toward him where he leaned against the balcony railing, the wind tugging gently at the front of his shirt.
“At college?”
A slow smile touched his mouth. “Yep. The paperwork’s almost finalized.”
I let out a quiet laugh, the sound carrying into the night air between us. “That happened fast. You sound excited.”
“I am.”
Something about the way he said it—simple and certain—sent warmth spreading through my chest.
“Tell me about it.”
Luke shifted closer, resting his forearms on the railing beside mine. The ocean stretched endlessly in front of us, the waves moving in long dark lines toward the shore.
“It’s not huge,” he explained, his tone thoughtful. “But it’s close to campus. Close enough that I can get to the rink early without fighting traffic.” His gaze flicked toward me then. “And it’s got a room that’s perfect.”
I tilted my head. “For what?”
“For you.”
The words landed so easily it took me a second to process them. “For me?”
His shoulder brushed mine as he turned slightly toward me. “For a studio.”
My breath caught.
“A real space,” he continued quietly. “Big windows. Good light. Somewhere you can paint without worrying about ruining the floors.”
The image formed instantly in my mind. Canvases leaning against the walls. Paint on my hands. The quiet hum of creativity filling a room that belonged entirely to me.
“You thought about that already?” I asked softly.
Luke’s gaze held mine. “I think about you in every version of the future.”
The honesty in his voice made my heart stumble.
“We’re both going to be busy,” he continued after a moment. “Classes. My training schedule. Travel for games.” His jaw shifted slightly. “But whatever time I’m not on the ice or in class…” His hand found mine, warm and steady. “I want it with you.”
The simple certainty of it wrapped around my ribs. “You mean living together,” I said quietly.
“Yeah.” His thumb brushed across my knuckles. “I mean waking up next to you every morning.”
The words sent a rush of heat through me that had nothing to do with the breeze off the water.
“No more driving across town to see you,” he added. “No more stolen hours between everything else.” His mouth curved faintly. “Just you there with me.”
My chest tightened in the best way. For so long, every version of us had been uncertain. Running. Looking over our shoulders. Waiting for something to fall apart again.
Standing there beside Luke, the future suddenly felt real.
“You realize,” I teased softly, “you’re going to have to live with the smell of paint thinner.”
“I can survive that.”
“And canvases everywhere.”
“I’ll adjust.”
“And me stealing all your hoodies.”
Luke’s grin deepened.
“You already do that.”
I leaned into him, my shoulder resting lightly against his chest. The ocean continued its slow rhythm beyond the balcony, the night stretching wide and endless above us. “You really want all of that?”
Luke’s arm wrapped around my waist, drawing me closer until I could feel the steady beat of his heart through his shirt.
“There isn’t anything else I want more.”
The future had always felt distant before. Now it felt close enough to touch.
And for the first time since everything began unraveling in Blackwood, the idea of waking up somewhere new—with Luke beside me, sunlight spilling through those studio windows—felt completely possible.
His hand trailed along my jaw, warm and steady. “I’ve been thinking about what comes after college too.”
“What?”
Luke studied my face carefully. “Everything my family built tried to shape who I was supposed to become.”
The quiet conviction in his voice made my chest tighten.
“Power. Control. Legacy.” He shook his head slightly. “I never wanted to go that route. The NHL was my goal. But even more important is you.” His thumb brushed slowly across my cheek. “You’re what’s real to me. What’s important.”
The words wrapped around me with quiet certainty. Neither of us moved as the wind shifted across the balcony.
Luke kissed me before I could finish the thought forming in my head. Not careful. Not hesitant.
His mouth claimed mine with a hunger that stole the air from my lungs, months of tension collapsing between us all at once. My hands slid instinctively up his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as heat rushed through me.
Too many layers. Too much distance between us.
I tugged at the hem of his shirt, desperate for skin. Luke pulled back long enough to drag it over his head and toss it aside. My breath caught at the sight of him—broad shoulders, the hard lines of muscle shifting beneath warm skin.
I reached for the buttons of my own shirt, but he stopped me.
“Let me.” The quiet command sent a shiver down my spine.
His hands moved slowly, deliberate as he pushed the fabric from my shoulders. The moment the last piece of clothing fell away, and his gaze swept over me with an intensity that made my pulse skip.
Then his arms were around me. He lifted me easily, and my legs wrapped around his waist without thinking. My back pressed against the door behind me as his mouth returned to mine, deeper now, more demanding.
My body responded before I could think. Every nerve woke beneath his touch.
His hand moved between us, fingers moving in slow circles that sent sparks racing through me. I gasped into his mouth, my head falling back against the door as sensation rippled outward.
“Luke—” My voice barely worked.
He didn’t stop. His touch grew more deliberate, more focused, until my body began to tremble against his. Pleasure coiled tight in my stomach, building with every movement of his hand.
When he slipped his fingers inside me, the sensation shattered whatever control I had left. My body arched against him, desperate for more.
Pressure built quickly, impossibly bright, until the world burst into fragments of light behind my eyes, and I cried out against his shoulder.
Luke groaned against my neck, the sound low and rough as he held me through the aftershocks.
But he wasn’t finished. The head of his cock brushed against me, teasing, the contact sending another wave of heat through my already oversensitive body.
Then he pushed inside. The sudden fullness tore a cry from my throat as pleasure surged through me again, stronger this time, stealing every coherent thought from my mind. He built the rhythm, steady and unrelenting, until I couldn’t tell where one breath ended and the next began.
Luke exhaled slowly. He held me close as the moment crashed over both of us, my body still trembling against his.
For a second, neither of us moved. Then he carried me toward the bed.
When he pulled free, the loss made me whimper softly, the emptiness unexpected after the intensity of the moment.
Luke lowered me onto the mattress and followed immediately, his body covering mine as he pushed back inside.
Relief spread through me instantly. He was exactly where he belonged. My arms wrapped around his shoulders as he began to move, slow at first, the rhythm steady and grounding. His mouth found the curve of my neck, leaving warm kisses along my skin as I arched beneath him.
The tension that had lived inside me for months finally unraveled. My fingers traced the muscles along his back, feeling the strength beneath his skin as he moved.
“Luke…” The sound of his name on my lips seemed to undo him.
His hips rolled harder, deeper, the movement sending sparks racing through me again. When his mouth brushed my ear and he whispered my name, my body shattered around him once more.
He followed a moment later, his breath rough against my shoulder as he buried himself deep.
Afterward, he gathered me close, rolling onto his side and pulling me with him. His arm wrapped securely around my waist, holding me against his chest.
My body slowly relaxed in the warmth of his embrace, exhaustion settling in. At some point, my eyes drifted closed. And when I woke later, Luke was still there. Exactly where I needed him to be.
Wrapped together beneath the blankets in the dim light, I lay with my head against his chest. His arm rested securely around my shoulders.
For the first time in years, the past didn’t feel like something chasing me. The storm had passed. The future waited ahead of us.
Luke’s fingers curled around mine as sleep began to pull me under. The ocean continued its endless rhythm beyond the glass, and one final realization fell quietly into place.
We’d survived the past.
Now we were finally building something beyond it.