Chapter 46

Kelsey POV

I woke up because something smelled like chocolate.

I lay still under the covers, blinking into darkness until the scent drifted past again—warm butter, vanilla, sweetness. The clock glowed at 1:47 a.m.

Of course. While normal people slept after surviving global press conferences, trending in twenty-seven countries, my life refused to be normal.

I pushed off the blankets and swung my legs out of bed.

I padded to the chair and slipped on the robe I’d tossed there. “Garrison?”

No answer. The hallway was dark except for a faint golden glow slipping under the kitchen door. I followed it.

Across the hall, Liam’s bedroom door stood open a few inches. Since the kidnapping he still hated waking up behind a closed door. Garrison had started leaving it that way without ever being asked.

He was in front of the stove in gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt, holding the spatula as if the pancake had personally challenged his compe