Page 168 of On His Team

I lift my head.

He’s smiling. “Why?”

“We were friends.”

“We’re still friends.”

“Friends don’t usually do that.”

“Some do.”

“Not us.”

I stare at him.

He shrugs. “I like this better.”

My heart flutters.

He smiles. “No witty comeback.”

I hug him. “Not this time.”

He looks down at me, and I cover my face.

Rowan laughs and pulls my hand away. “What?”

“You’re being annoying.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Stop saying things.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t okay me.”

He laughs harder.

I hit his chest.

We eventually get dressed because he has homework, I have an event that has apparently developed consciousness and is trying to ruin my life, and both of us have enough responsibilities that spending an entire Sunday naked would be objectively irresponsible.

Tempting. But irresponsible.

Rowan stays another two hours. He does homework at my kitchen table while I work through my clinic schedule. We order dinner. He leaves a little after seven. Before he goes, he kisses me by the door like it’s normal.

Monday is when the week starts trying to kill me. Ives looks at my updated staffing sheet for thirty seconds before circling three things.

“You have nobody floating.”

“I have Gary.”

“Gary is assigned to equipment.”

“He can move after check-in.”

“That’s not a float.”