Page 53 of At First Catch

“Why?”

Because my self-control is already hanging by a thread.

Because every time she smiles at me like this, something inside me shifts closer toward wanting things I promised myself not to want.

Because if she keeps looking at me that way, standing beneath porch lights in tiny shorts and soft sweaters, I’m eventually going to kiss her somewhere deeply inappropriate.

Instead, I say, “You’re making dinner dangerous.”

The corner of her mouth lifts.

“Maybe I like dangerous.”

Before I can answer, the front door swings open.

“HADLEY,” Claire calls from inside. “If you’re flirting with Nolan in the driveway, at least bring the potatoes first.”

Silence. Absolute silence.

I close my eyes briefly while peals of glee erupt somewhere inside the house.

Then Hadley mutters, “I’m moving.”

I laugh. Really laugh this time.

It seems I don’t laugh enough either.

“You heard nothing,” she informs me.

“Impossible. Your mother announced it to the county.”

A blush floods her cheeks. And God help me, I think this might be my favorite version of Hadley yet.

Hadley exhales dramatically and starts toward the porch. “Come on. Before my family decides to make this worse.”

“That implies they aren’t already trying.”

“Oh, they absolutely are.”

The second we step inside the farmhouse, warmth wraps around me from every direction.

The kitchen smells like garlic, rosemary, butter, and fresh bread. Music plays softly somewhere near the dining room while overlapping conversations fill the space with the kind of comfortable chaos I still don’t fully know how to exist inside.

Claire spots me from the stove.

“There he is.” She crosses the kitchen before I can react and pulls me directly into a hug.

A hug.

Like this is normal and I belong here enough to hug. It catches me off guard badly enough that I freeze for half a second before carefully hugging her back.

“You look too skinny,” she announces.

I glance at Hadley.

“She says that to everyone,” Hadley whispers.

Claire points a wooden spoon at her daughter without looking away from me. “Not true. Rowan’s finally filled out properly.”