“I know.”
“We’re already… together.”
She smiled faintly. “Yeah.”
I took a breath. “What if we lived together?”
Her eyebrows lifted. She didn’t pull away. She just looked surprised, like she was rewinding the words to make sure she’d heard them right.
“Lived together,” she repeated.
“Yeah,” I said, quieter now. “I mean, we don’t have to decide everything tonight.” I shook my head. “It feels like something we could do. If you wanted to.”
She was quiet for a long moment. Her hands came up and rested against my chest, right over my heartbeat. I could feel how fast it was going.
“Okay,” she said finally. Then, after a second, “Yeah. Okay.”
Relief hit first. Then something warmer.
I kissed her because it felt natural, because she was already leaning in. It wasn’t dramatic or perfect. Just soft and a little unsteady, like we were both figuring it out as we went.
She laughed against my mouth when I pulled her closer. Her arms slid around my neck. I lifted her without meaning to, more instinct than strength, and she made this surprised sound that turned into a laugh.
We ended up in the grass, her dress spread out beneath her, me bracing myself on my elbows so I didn’t crush her. She looked up at me, cheeks flushed, hair messy, eyes bright in the moonlight.
“We’re really doing this?” she asked.
“I think so,” I said. “If you want to.”
She smiled, slower this time. “I do.”
“I love you,” she said, like it wasn’t a performance, just a fact she was handing me.
I swallowed. “I love you too.”
I meant it the only way I knew how then, without knowing how much could change.
We lay there for a while, not talking, just listening to the noise from the house and the woods beyond it. Her head rested against my shoulder. My fingers traced absent shapes along her arm.
For that night, that was enough.
And lying there with her, fingers tangled in her hair, her warmth beneath my palms, the world felt simple.
Chapter 42
Claire
Brandon came over just after seven, carrying the night in with him, cool air, the faint smell of rain, his jacket still warm from the car. He kissed my cheek as he stepped inside, an easy, familiar thing, like muscle memory, and set his keys in the bowl by the door without looking.
“Hey,” he said, smiling like he wasn’t exhausted. Or maybe like he was, but wanted to pretend he wasn’t.
“Hey,” I said back, relieved.
He loosened his tie, shrugged out of his jacket, and hung it up before I could remind him. That alone made me smile.
“Long day?” I asked.
“Yeah, like you wouldn’t believe,” he said. “But I’m here now. I’m all yours.”
