Nova took the last few sips of her margarita and put the glass on the nightstand on her side of the bed. “Thank you for telling me about your tattoos,” she said.
“You done with the chips and guac?” he asked.
She nodded and Torin got out of bed to gather everything.
“Get ready to sleep while I clean this up and we’ll hit the sack.”
She didn’t argue, not that she had much of a chance since he was already going down the steps to the living area.
When he returned, her face was freshly washed, and he imagined she’d brushed her teeth as she usually did. He took three minutes to brush his own teeth and splash water on his face as well.
The lamp on her side of the bed was still burning when he returned to the bedroom, but the overhead lights were off.
Torin climbed beneath the covers and immediately reached for Nova. She nestled against him, pressing her face into his chest.
“Ready to talk about your thoughts, yet?” he asked.
He felt her sigh against his pectoral and expected her to say no.
Instead, she said, “I’ve never said this to anyone but my family members and my best friend in high school.”
“Said what?”
He heard her swallow hard and hoped like hell that whatever this was, it wasn’t bad.
“I’m in love with you, Torin,” she said. “Head over heels to the point of being stupid with it.”
“Thank God,” he said, the tension within him relaxing.
“Thank God?”
“Yeah, I was worried you were about to reveal some deep, dark secret that would mean we’d have to go on the lam.”
She pinched his side. “You were not.”
“Okay, maybe not the lam, but I was worried it would be something that I wouldn’t like hearing. I already knew you were in love with me, but a guy still likes to hear the words.”
“You did not,” she argued, pinching him again.
“Hey, stop with the pinching. This should be a romantic moment.”
“Yes, it should, but I’m not the one who ruined it.”
Torin grinned and kissed her nose. “I didn’t ruin it for me.”
She sighed again. “Fine, how did you know I was in love with you?”
“You didn’t fight too hard about moving in here with me. In fact, I only had to argue with you for a couple of minutes about it. I know you like your space. You need your alone time, a lot. Yet you gave it up for me. It had to be love.”
Nova rolled her eyes. “Good to know the mystery is dead.”
Torin squeezed her tighter. “I love you, too, you know,” he said.
She sighed. “I know.”
“You’re just saying that because I said it first,” he said.
“Nope. I knew earlier today.”
