I beat a fist against his chest playfully. “Negative one hundred points.”
The side of his mouth quirks up as he holds me. “I think you’ll see it differently tomorrow.”
He’s probably right. The only question is,howdifferently?Was this a mistake?
My thumb brushes over his cheek, then his lower lip. I lean in to kiss him again, softer this time and with less urgency.
Holden curls his arms around me. I step into it, folding my arms around his neck. I hug him tight, closing my eyes.How did we even get here?A month ago, I never would’ve thought this was a possibility for us. I never even considered it. But now, it’s like a missing piece was just presented to me and everything makes sense.
Can I trust it?
Can I trusthim?
“Still stay tonight,” I murmur against his neck. “Please. I don’t want you to go.”
Holden groans softly, hands flexing against my back like he knows how difficult that will be… for both of us. It’s a few seconds before he replies. “I’ll stay.”
When we pull apart, there’s a different, almost shy kind of quiet between us.
This is new territory.
“I’ll—uh—go change then,” I say, gesturing vaguely toward the bathroom.
Holden nods, scrubbing his face as he steps away. “Yeah, me too. After, I mean.”
I slip into the bathroom and close the door behind me, leaning against it for a second. My reflection stares back at me. All wide eyes and flushed cheeks. I barely recognize myself with the way I’m smiling.
I touch my lips.Holden kissed me.
I press a palm to my chest, trying to will my heart to slow down. Eventually, I slip out of my dress and change into a pair of soft purple sleep shorts and a black cami.
When I step back out, Holden is standing by my dresser, but his gaze immediately lifts to me, then drops for the briefest of glances to my hips. It’s quick and subtle, his cheeks turning red before he turns away. But I catch it.
Was he looking for the underwear?
I bite back a smile. I am definitely not telling him that I’m wearing them tonight. Nope. No way in hell. It would cast that boundary straight into the fire. I’m sure of it.
He grabs his own things from the bottom drawer, then disappears into the bathroom. I take the opportunity to let Aris out. She hops onto my shoulder, chirping indignantly.
“I know, I know,” I murmur, scratching under her beak. “Bad timing. Here. Have an extra treat.”
She swallows down half a dozen treats before flying away, finally content.
By the time I reenter my bedroom, Holden is fully changed and pulling back the sheets. We avoid each other’s gaze as we climb in.
Or at least, we try to.
Holden sputters a nervous laugh when he flops onto the pillow. He pulls me against him almost immediately, like it’sinstinct, and our bodies fit together in a way that feels both completely new and entirely inevitable. Our legs tangle, and I drape an arm over his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing under my palm.
The knot behind my ribs tightens painfully.
Dammit.
He was right.
It would’ve been a mistake to go further. I see it now, with the adrenaline fading and the quiet settling in around us. Tonight was already so much—full in ways I never could’ve expected. Adding more to it might’ve tipped the balance. Pushed us too far, too fast.
“Tonight really was the best,” Holden murmurs into the quiet. His voice is soft, almost reverent. “I loved all of it.”
