Page 7 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

His hand comes up, fingers brushing along my jaw, firm enough to tilt my face toward his.

My breath stutters.

And then he kisses me.

For half a second, I freeze.

And then I kiss him back.

Because apparently today is the day I make every questionable decision available to me.

His hand slides to my waist, pulling me closer, and the world narrows down to heat and breath and the sharp, dizzying reality of what I’m doing.

By the time we break apart, my heart's racing, my lips tingling, my entire body humming like I’ve just stepped into something I won’t be able to walk away from.

I stare at him, breathless.

“That,” I manage, “was a terrible idea.”

“You’re still here,” he murmurs.

“I’m sitting in my assigned seat,” I shoot back, but it lacks bite. Even I can hear it. “And you’re very sure of yourself.”

“I’m paying attention.”

“To what?”

His thumb shifts, tracing just slightly along my jaw, enough to make my pulse stutter. “To the fact that you’re not stopping me.”

Somewhere between being dumped in an airport and ending up here, next to a man who looks at me like this, something in me decided I don’t want to be careful today.

I exhale slowly, trying to calm down. “You’re making a lot of assumptions.”

His voice drops, quieter now, closer. “Then prove me wrong.”

There’s a beat.

A long one.

The kind that stretches just enough for me to pull away, to laugh this off, to shut it down and pretend I’m still the version of myself who makes sensible decisions.

Instead, I tilt my chin slightly into his hand.

My heart's racing now, loud enough that I’m convinced he can hear it, and I wonder what the hell I’m doing.

This isn’t me.

Or maybe it is. Just not the version I usually let people see.

That realization hits somewhere deep.

This isn’t happeningtome.

I’m letting it happen.

That thought should scare me, but all it does is make me feel reckless. Alive.

I lean in just slightly, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath, close enough that if either of us moves even an inch…