The moss was still damp beneath Jude's back as he lay there, limbs entwined with Grace and Zoey, Stella draped across his chest, Natalie nestled between his legs, her head resting on his thigh. None of them spoke. They didn't need to. Their breath was a shared rhythm, like a slow tide washing over the roots of the tree that shaded them. The island seemed to breathe with them, a pulse deep under the soil that mirrored their satisfaction.
Then footsteps crunched on the path.
Jude sat up slowly, heart already leaping to his throat. The others stirred, lifting their heads lazily to look. From between the trunks, Lucy appeared first, her hair loose and falling in soft curls around her face, her lips parted slightly, her eyes glazed with something more than sleep. Behind her came Emma, her expression harder, tighter, cautious even now - but her feet moved without hesitation. And Sophie followed last, her gaze flicking between the bodies sprawled around Jude, her brows drawing together.
