"Hey." The word barely left his mouth before he stepped forward and wrapped an arm around my waist. Then he kissed me. It felt like what a real home was supposed to be. My hands found his jacket automatically. I let myself lean into him and forget everything that had happened that morning.
When he finally pulled back, he rested his forehead briefly against mine. "Hi, baby."
The simple affection in his voice nearly undid me. “Hi, Thane.”
He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "God, it's good to see you."
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. "You saw me three days ago."
"Three very long days ago."
That earned him a smile despite everything. He dropped onto the couch and stretched his arm across the back cushions. God, I wanted to sit on his lap and let him wrap those ridiculously strong arms around me. Instead, I sat beside him. Close enough to feel his warmth. Close enough to remind myself he was actually here.
I'd missed him.
Thane looked me over. "Did you eat breakfast?"
I stared at him. "Hello to you too."
His mouth twitched. "That's not an answer."
"I had breakfast."
"An actual breakfast?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're impossible."
"I'll take that as a yes."
The annoying part was that he looked entirely too pleased with himself.
"What about lunch?"
I turned to look at him. "Did you fly all the way back from Los Angeles just to interrogate me about food?"
"Maybe." I shook my head, but a smile slipped through anyway.
Thane smiled back. "There it is."
"What?"
"That smile."
Heat crept into my face. "You're ridiculous."
"Probably."
For a moment, it was easy. Easy to sit there beside him. Easy to forget the articles. Easy to focus on the fact that he was home.
I asked about the flight instead. He told me about turbulence somewhere over Oregon and how one of the younger players had spent half an hour convinced the plane was going down.
"Please tell me it wasn't Briggs."
"It was not Briggs."
"Tannen?"
"No."
