Page 109 of Fallen Flame

He smiled.

It wasn’t big. Just warm. Proud. Then he opened the refrigerator and started searching through it.

I looked up at Oliver. “I think your dad approves.”

Oliver didn’t hesitate. “He does.”

The words came easily.

So easily I knew he hadn’t thought about them before saying them.

My heart squeezed.

Across the kitchen, Pipe went still for half a second. His back remained toward us, one hand still resting on the refrigerator door. Then he continued searching as though he hadn’t heard anything.

But I saw the way his shoulders shifted, but Oliver didn’t. He was still looking at me.

I smiled. “Good.”

“Good?” he repeated.

“Yeah.” I slid my hands higher on his chest. “Looks good on you.”

His brow furrowed slightly. “What does?”

“Knowing exactly where you belong.”

For a moment, he didn’t say anything.

The noise of the clubhouse swirled around us. Alice yelled at Penny for stealing cookies even though she’d watched her do it. Drew laughed at something Demi whispered. Jude and Arlo started arguing louder, which meant neither one of them had any idea what they were talking about.

Oliver’s gaze stayed locked on mine. Then his arm tightened around my waist—not enough to hurt, just enough to bring me closer.

“I know where I belong,” he said quietly.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Do you?”

His eyes dropped to my mouth. “Yeah.”

“Where?”

“Right here.”

My teasing smile disappeared.

Oliver leaned down and kissed me.

It wasn’t a heated kiss. There was no desperation or rush behind it. His mouth moved slowly over mine, warm and sure, while his hand held me against him.

It was intimate in a way that had nothing to do with how deep the kiss became.

He kissed me like he didn’t care who saw. Like he wasn’t questioning whether he had a right to be here.

Like he had finally stopped waiting for someone to tell him he didn’t belong.

I curled my fingers into the front of his shirt and kissed him back.

Someone cleared their throat loudly.