In the kitchen, he makes coffee like this is already a routine. Like we’ve always done this.
He hands me a mug, fingers brushing mine.
“You hungry?” he asks.
“For breakfast,” I say. “Or for other reasons.”
His mouth curves. Controlled. Knowing.
“Breakfast first,” he says. “I’m responsible now.”
“Tragic.”
He leans in and kisses my temple.
We stand there for a moment—barefoot, close, easy.
Nothing fragile about it.
Nothing tentative.
Just the quiet certainty that last night wasn’t an exception.
It was a beginning.
Chapter Forty-Seven
AUDRA
The company Christmasparty is the first time we walk in together without caution. No spacing. No careful choreography. Just… together.
The no-fraternization policy has been formally retired—replaced with a stack of forms HR pretends are scandalous but really amount to paperwork and a mutual acknowledgment of consent. We filled them out weeks ago. Signed. Filed. Done.
So Derek’s arm settles around my waist without hesitation. It stays there. He leans in now and then, brushing a kiss against my temple—unshowy, familiar. Not claiming. Just connected. The way couples look when they’ve already said the important things in private.
People notice. Of course they do.
But there’s no whispering. No spectacle. Just smiles. Acceptance. A few raised brows from people who missed the middle chapters.
Jamie catches my eye from across the room and lifts her glass.
Finally,her expression says.
I smile back.
Across the room, Jamie has claimed ahigh-top with Mark and Alex. Levi is with them, loud in the way only Levi can be—half storytelling, half performance, arms moving like punctuation.
“…and I’m just saying,” he’s saying, gesturing with his drink, “if your GPS tells you to turn left into a lake, at some point personal responsibility has to kick in.”
Jamie laughs outright.
Mark’s mouth twitches, which for him is practically a standing ovation.
Alex shakes his head. “That’s not what happened.”
“Itisemotionally what happened,” Levi insists. “The vibes were aquatic.”
Jamie snorts. “You’re impossible.”
