He didn’t plan for this. Not the dinners, not the quiet nights, and damn sure not the feeling that crawled up his chest every time you walked through that door.

Joel thought it was just going to be him and Ellie, dealing with whatever mess she stirred up next. She’d been wild, reckless—barely listening to anything he said. Then you showed up. And somehow, she listened. Obeyed. Still a pain in the ass, but at least manageable.

That was the only reason he kept asking Ellie to invite you over—for help. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. Until the “help” turned into one dinner, then two. Then night outs. Then Ellie smirking across the table like she knew something he didn’t.

So when he asked both of you to come with him on a ride out to the cabin in the hills, it wasn’t supposed to be anything. Just a walk. Just a ride. Just a moment.

But there she was, Ellie, laughing her ass off behind that dusty old camera, filming Joel trying not to look at you while you talked.

“Ellie,” he growled, turning his face away from the lens. “Put that damn camera away or I’m gonna break that thing.”

She didn’t stop laughing.

And Joel? He didn’t stop riding beside you either.