Chapter 77

Ramon POV

Dinner the next evening should have been perfect. We were leaving tomorrow morning, heading back home to start building our life properly—Lake, Ollie, and me.

My mother had gone all out for our last night, making everyone’s favorites, filling the long dining table with enough food to feed twice our number. The kids were excited, talking over each other, the adults laughing and relaxed.

I should have been enjoying it. Should have been focused on the way Lake kept sneaking glances at me from across the table, the small smile playing at his lips when he caught me looking back. Should have been paying attention to Ollie’s animated story about the obstacle course he and David had invented in the backyard.

Instead, I couldn’t stop watching Troy.

He looked fine on the surface. Was smiling and laughing in all the right places, passing dishes and wiping Julian’s face when he got spaghetti sauce on his chin. But I’d known Troy for five years now,