I lift my eyebrows.
“You made lasagna the last time you hosted Game Night.”
“I didn’t think you ate any.”
It had been the first and only time I hosted—mostly because Kylie had come but had seemed so uncomfortable in my space, I made it so I wasn’t free to host since.
(Turns out my house has a lot of leaks. And termites. And appliances breaking down.)
“It was so good I snuck an extra slice into a Tupperware I had in my purse.”
“You carry Tupperware in your purse?”
A delicate shoulder lifts and falls in a shrug and she giggles. “Maybe.”
Beautiful.
So fucking beautiful.
Then she pushes off the wall.
I hold my breath as she comes close.
Five feet away. Three. One.
Her hand lifts toward my face and still, I don’t breathe, don’t speak, don’t dare to move as her fingertips come closer.
Closer.
Touch.
Everything inside me lights up—joy and yearning and feeling alive for the first time in a long time…maybe the first time ever.
Because Kylie is touching me.
Her hand skates over my jaw, fingers gently trailing along the stubble there, and?—
She pulls back, pointer finger and thumb pinched together.
“I don’t think glitter goes with your outfit,” she teases, holding up the sparkling speck.
My heart is pounding like I’ve just sprinted across the ice, trying desperately to catch up with some fucker on the other team. “Must have been from the kids earlier.”
She brushes her hand on her pants, leaving that speck there, and though I’m tempted—so fucking tempted—to touch her with the excuse of removing that fleck from her jeans—I remain in place. “I met them with Damon,” she says softly. “They were adorable.”
I think of the kids with their beanies and face paint (and glitter), and grin.
“Yeah, they were definitely that.”
Like someone else I know.
Her eyes flare and I know I’ve given away too much.
“Well,” she whispers, stepping back. “I’m sure you’re tired.” Her gaze slides away, shy creeping back up and over her. “I’ll let you get out of here.”
I reach forward and snag her wrist, staying her when she would have walked away. “Kylie.”
Blue eyes on mine. Lips parting on a shaky exhale. Her body drifts toward mine and for one hopeful heartbeat, I think this might be the moment.
