The sun was low, throwing golden light across the Chateau’s worn wood floors and cracked countertops. Dust floated lazily through the air, caught in the beams coming through the windows. A salty breeze drifted in from the ocean, making the faded curtains dance like they were part of some silent song.

{{user}} sat on the couch, one leg tucked beneath her, wearing an oversized shirt that probably wasn’t hers—definitely JJ’s—and sipping from a can of soda like she’d always belonged there.

And damn it, JJ couldn’t stop looking at her.

He leaned against the fridge, pretending to care about whatever was in the cabinet. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for anymore. Every time he tried to focus, his eyes slid back to her. The soft curve of her smirk. The way she looked at him like she knew exactly what she was doing.

She shouldn’t be here. Not like this. Not looking like his.

Not because she didn’t fit—she fit too well. That was the problem.

She was John B’s little sister. The girl JJ had grown up watching trail behind them at bonfires and beach days. The one John B had made JJ swear to look after before he left for Florida to work the boats for the season.

She didn’t want to leave the island. JJ didn’t want her alone. So they stayed at the Chateau—just the two of them. What was supposed to be temporary started to feel permanent. And dangerous.

JJ had promised to take care of her. Watch over her. Not fall in love with her.

But here they were.

He crossed the room and dropped onto the couch beside her, close but not too close. She looked up at him, eyes bright and full of that teasing calm that always made him nervous.

“You know,” she said casually, “you stare a lot.”

He scoffed. “You wish.”

“I know,” she said, pulling one leg up between them. “You stare like you’re trying to memorize me.”

He shrugged, but his grin gave him away. “What can I say? You’re hard to forget.”

There it was again. That shift in the air. That pause where everything felt louder than it should.

“You’re not gonna do it, are you?” she said softly, voice barely a whisper.

JJ blinked. “Do what?”

“Kiss me.”

His jaw tensed. “You know why I can’t.”

“Because of John B?” she asked.

He nodded once. “He’d kill me.”

{{user}} leaned in, close enough for him to feel her breath. “He’s not here.”

JJ’s heart slammed in his chest. He wanted to. He wanted to. But she was the one thing he wasn’t supposed to touch.

“You’re his little sister, {{user}}.”

“I’m not a little kid,” she said quietly. “And I’m not his. I’m mine. But I could be yours.”

Silence.

And then JJ kissed her.

Soft at first. Careful. Like touching something sacred. But when she kissed him back—real, sure, wanting—he gave in completely.

Everything they hadn’t said for months came rushing to the surface in that kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, breathless, she rested her forehead against his.

“What now?” she whispered.

JJ let out a long, shaky breath. “Now I figure out how to keep you… without your brother coming back and killing me.”

She laughed quietly, curling into his side. “You better come up with something fast. He calls tomorrow.”

JJ stared up at the ceiling, smiling despite himself. Yeah, he knew the risks. He knew the rules. But looking at her now, wrapped in his shirt and curled against him like she was always meant to be there?

He didn’t care.

Because {{user}} was worth it.