“Yes, thank you.” His voice is melodic, leaving the perfect pause for me to introduce myself.
I hold out a hand as if this were a job interview.“Linden.”
“Thank you, Linden.” There’s an amused curl to those full lips, but at least he doesn't seem to mind my awkwardness. He shakes my hand before stepping inside.
“Uhm, do you want some…water?" I don’t know why I’m walking backward into our kitchen, but it’s nearly impossible to take my eyes off Fiore. I spot a few gray hairs on his temples, and I feel like if I keep looking, I’ll discover more of these small details that will explain why he’s so magnetic. I don’t even turn around when I hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
“Hey, Lind, who was—oh. Hello?” Micah's voice draws closer until it’s right behind me.
I blink like he turned off a light, and I have to reorient myself.
“Oh, Micah, this…that’s…”
“Rafael Fiore. I'm here to look at your kittens.” Thankfully, Fiore cuts my stuttering short. He takes off his sunglasses, giving his smile even more power.
I pray that neither he nor Micah will notice my face, which feels like I’ve left it outside, baking in the sun. At the same time, I cannot look away from those long fingers as they tuck his folded-up sunglasses into the neckline of his button-down. Everything looks like a rehearsed movement, elegant through sheer ease and confidence.
“Ah, yeah. Those are upstairs,” Micah says.
I can’t see his face, but his voice is odd somehow. Hard. I put in the effort to pull my eyes off Fiore, but just as I want to turn around, Micah’s hand settles on the small of my back, and he continues talking.
“First door on the right. Can’t miss it.”
“Nope, coming downstairs,” Olli announces himself. His hands are busy holding the squirming black kitten to his chest.
For a moment, I’m wondering why he didn’t bring both of them downstairs, but I’m more concerned about Micah’s allergy.“Should we go outside?” I pick my cup from the counter and gently nudge Micah back toward our back door.
“That’s definitely one hot professor,” I comment leisurely once we’re outside and there’s a door between Olli and us and, most importantly, Fiore.
Micah, however, is still looking over his shoulder. His eyebrows are drawn low over his eyes. It takes another few seconds until he turns to me. “What?”
“Yeah, that’s what everyone calls him—The Hot Professor,” I explain, biting my tongue so I don’t laugh at the expression on Micah’s face. “I guess now I get it.” I shrug, hopefully light enough to sell the joke.
“Oh?”
“Yeah? What’s the matter? Don’t you like him?” I ask, all innocence.
“What? No, no.” Micah looks down at me, then over at the back door, then back at me. His arms wrap around me. “I mean. I don’t even know him after all.”
I bite my lips, then drape my arms around his neck. “Is that jealousy, ogre?”
“What? No, I—oh,you little.” Micah snorts, then shakes his head, pulling me close.
I chuckle until our lips meet. After days of carefully keeping every touch brief, dancing around the boundaries of what’s too much, I’m surprised by how effortless the gesture feels.
And how much I missed this.
Just…touching.
Hugging.
Back at the farm, we did it without thinking about it. It’s hard not to connect that to everything that’s happened since then.
“I mean…heisa very pretty man,” I start again, sitting down in one of the lawn chairs.
Micah sits down next to me, but pulls me and my entire chair closer to him until we’re side by side. “Maybe.”
“Oh come on!” I laugh, shaking my head.
