He leaves before either of us can respond.
Archer locks the door. The house is quiet. We’re standing in the hallway, looking at each other, and this is the part of the date where normal people would kiss goodnight and go to their separate rooms.
He steps closer. His hand comes up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers trailing along my jaw, and I tilt my face up toward his.
“I had a really good time,” I say.
“Me too.”
“Thank you for taking me to your place. I see why you like it.”
“It’s your place now too.”
He leans down and kisses me—soft, slow, his mouth warm and tasting of red wine and tiramisu. I rise up on my toes, placing my hand on his chest, feeling his heart race beneath my palm. He pulls back, pressing his forehead against mine, and we stand there in the hallway, breathing each other in.
“Goodnight, Syd.”
“Night, Arch.”
I head to the guest room while he goes to his. Two doors close in the quiet hallway, twenty feet apart. But for the first time, the distance between them doesn’t feel like an ocean.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Call
Archer
I play the best practice I’ve had in weeks.
Everything is landing—my glove is quick, my positioning is sharp, and I’m reading the shooters before they even load up. Zayden tries to sneak one past me low blocker during a power play drill, but I get a pad on it. He shakes his head as he skates back to the line, realizing he thought he had me, but he didn’t, and we both know it.
Ollie notices. Of course, Ollie notices.
“You’re in a good mood,” he says, dropping onto the bench next to me during a water break. “Suspiciously good. Like, disturbingly good.”
“I’m just having a good practice.”
“You’ve stopped everything today. Everything. You haven’t done that in weeks.” He squints at me. “Something happened.”
“Nothing happened.”
“You went on the date.”
“How do you know about the date?”
“Because Logan told Banks, and Banks told Winnie, and Winnie told—actually, I don’t know who Winnie told, but the information made it to me, which means everyone knows. Small team, big mouths.” He takes a swig of water. “How was it?”
“Good.”
“Good? That’s it? That’s all I get? Come on, Woody, I coached you through the whole needing to date thing. I deserve details.”
“It was really good. We went to Luca’s. We talked. We had wine.”
“And?”
“And we went home and said goodnight.”
“That’s it?”
