Page 236 of At First Catch

“Because this used to feel impossible.”

The honesty leaves the kitchen gently quiet afterward. There was a time I genuinely thought fear might win. That Nolan would keep trying to carry the entire world alone until he crushed himself beneath it. That love might not survive the loneliness.

“You know what’s funny?” he asks.

“What?”

“I used to think this thing with you, a relationship, would feel intimidating.”

I smile. “And now?”

Nolan glances out toward the marina glowing beneath sunset and string lights, then back at me. “Now it feels like everything I never knew I wanted.”

I rise onto my toes and kiss him, and Nolan melts against me with the ease of someone who no longer treats love like something temporary.

“Absolutely not,” Bailey yells from outside. “I already traumatized a tourist last time.”

Nolan groans against my mouth while laughter bursts out of me. The sound echoes warmly through the kitchen.

Marina lights shimmer across Back Bay outside our windows, and Nolan smiles against my forehead.

By the time the marina party finally ends, Coral Bell Cove glows beneath strings of lights reflected across Back Bay.

I carry the last platter into the kitchen, already reaching for the sink out of habit.

“Leave it.”

I glance over my shoulder. Nolan is already rolling up the sleeves of his T-shirt.

I blink.

“What?”

“Leave the dishes.”

I laugh. “Someone has to do them.”

“Yeah.” He reaches past me for the sponge. “Me.”

I stare at him.

Nolan smiles without looking up. “Go sit on the porch for five minutes.”

“Nolan...”

He finally looks at me. “You’ve spent the past two days planning this party.” His thumb brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. “Let me take care of you for once.”

Nolan’s hands slide around my waist while I set the dish towel down beside the sink.

“You know,” he murmurs against my neck, “normal people hire catering for marina parties.”

“We’re not normal people.”

“True.”

His mouth brushes lightly beneath my ear, and suddenly the world around me dissolves into a dizzying kaleidoscope of sensation.

Outside the kitchen windows, Back Bay glitters beneath moonlight while boats sway gently against the slips below.