George groans, but it sounds suspiciously like agreement.
The door slides open again, and Elle appears at last—barefoot, hair a tangle, makeup smudged, looking wrecked but radiant. She blinks at us like we’ve materialized out of thin air, then grins.
“What are you doing here?” Hannah asks, head tilting. “Weren’t you supposed to stay at the bridal suite last night?”
Elle waves her hand, beaming as she crosses to the table. “We did. We just… came back for snacks. And possibly my robe. And also because I missed you guys.”
“Already?” George mutters, but he’s smiling.
Elle ignores him, stealing a piece of pastry and dropping into the empty chair beside me. “So. Who’s going to tell me whyyou’re all sitting here like a Renaissance painting? It’s giving… post-revolution brunch.”
“Just planning dinner,” Hannah says.
Elle squints at her, then at me, then at Connor, and her smile goes sly. “Right. Totally about dinner. Not at all about?—”
“Elle,” Connor warns lowly, but she’s already gasping like she just cracked some ancient code.
“Oh my god.” She slaps both palms on the table, making the cutlery rattle. “It happened. You two…” She points between us so aggressively her finger wobbles. “You actually happened. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this? Since my engagement party, Manu. The rooftop.”
Heat floods my face so fast I almost flinch. “Elle?—”
“Iknewit,” she barrels on, ignoring me. “The tension. The smiles. The eye fucking! And don’t even get me started on the waterfall detour, when you came back from that hike looking like…” She waves her hand vaguely at my face, then at Connor’s, like that explains everything. “Likethat.”
Connor drags a hand down his face, groaning. “Earth, swallow me.”
“Why?” Elle asks, beaming. “This is incredible, and everyone was wrong and I’m right.” She twists toward the others, eyes wide. “Did you all know? Am I the last one to know? I’ve beenshippingyou for years.”
“Pretty sure we’ve all known,” Amelia says warmly, biting into a croissant.
George shrugs. “They weren’t exactly subtle.”
The air feels suddenly too bright around me. My heart is still racing. I’m waiting for the teasing to tip into something sharp, for someone to flinch or frown or ask what I’m thinking—what I’m risking. But no one does.
“God, this feels amazing. I’m so happy for you. Really.” Elle whirls back to me, her grin softening, eyes shining. “I alwaysthought there was something there. Gosh, it’s the best day of my life.”
“You just got married last night,” Amelia says with a laugh, and the group erupts into loud laughter.
The scene feels so natural. Something in my chest unclenches, slow and tentative, like my ribs are loosening. I didn’t realize how tightly I’d been bracing until now. My fingers brush Connor’s under the table, testing, and when he doesn’t move away—when his thumb curls softly around mine—I almost forget to breathe.
Elle claps her hands once, decisive. “Okay. Now that my heart is fully full, who’s making dinner reservations? I refuse to leave Switzerland without drowning in a pot of molten cheese.”
43
CONNOR
Three Weeks Later
The kettle clicks off,and the apartment goes quiet again—just the hiss of the radiator and the low rumble of traffic six floors below. Morning light slants through the blinds in fat stripes, turning the air into glitter.
She’s on the couch, hair shoved up in a clip, my socks slouching at her ankles, surrounded by the chaos we’ve ignored since we got back from our trip. Pizza menus, glossy catalogs for furniture we’ll never buy, envelopes I probably should’ve opened already. And one thin, official-looking one with her name screaming in bold black letters that was delivered by Camila last night after we were already in bed. Alfred brought it up only minutes ago.
I watch her finger slip under the flap. I don’t breathe until the card slides free.
I forget about the toothbrush in my mouth.
It’s thicker than I expected, ugly in that government way, but her hands shake like she’s holding a miracle.
She nods. A laugh bursts out of her, cracked and wet, and my chest squeezes so hard I nearly choke on mint foam.
