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The grin that spread across Quinn’s face was impossible to resist.

“Excellent. I’m putting that on my CV.”

“Please don’t.”

“I make no promises.”

I laughed, and then Quinn shifted again, settling more comfortably against me, his arm draped across my stomach. The gesture felt instinctive, unguarded.

I’m not analysing the moment.

Instead, I wrapped my arm around him and held him closer. Quinn hummed softly, clearly pleased with the arrangement. After a minute he spoke again, his voice drowsy now.

“You know what I like about us?”

“What’s that?”

“We keep surprising each other.”

Lying there with Quinn curled against my side, I found myself thinking that some surprises were worth every rule I’d ever broken.

I didn’t need to look at the clock to know it was either too late or too early.

Quinn was asleep, his breathing slow and even, his hand on my chest.

I lay there for a long time staring at the ceiling, my mind refusing to settle, the evening replaying itself in a loop.

Quinn murmured in his sleep, and I turned my head to look at him in the dim light. Even asleep he looked peaceful. I smiled to myself.

You walked into Obsidian and nothing about you fit neatly into my compartments.

And now he was in my life, I didn’t want him to leave.

Quinn stirred beside me. “Max?”

“Go back to sleep,” I whispered.

“Mmm.” He rolled over and within seconds his breathing changed.

I lay there for another few minutes before easing myself out of the bed. I closed the door quietly behind me and crept into the kitchen, the floor cold under my bare feet.

The clock on the kitchen wall read 2:14 a.m.

I went into the living room and switched on the small lamp beside the piano.

For a moment I stood there, staring at the instrument. Music had always been the easiest way for me to understand things I couldn’t say out loud. Then I recalled the notes I’d made at Quinn’s house. I went over to where my jacket hung and searched through the pockets. When I found the folded piece of paper, I went back to the piano bench and sat.

I played the melody quietly, one ear towards the bedroom, listening for any sign that I’d disturbed Quinn’s sleep.

Silence.

As the harmony unfolded, the first words made an appearance, and I grabbed the notepad I kept on top of the piano. I scribbled them down, not wanting to lose those precious first lines.

You walked in reading all the rules

Like they were promises, not chains…

I had to smile. Well, that’s accurate.