Griffin was the first to peel away, giving Kieren a nod and me a sharp once-over that said I’m watching, girlfriend or not. Adam and Beckett were still arguing over something ridiculous—probably fantasy league points or which of them had better hair.
I stood, clutching my bag tighter than necessary, and drifted toward the valet line outside. The cold slapped me the second the door opened. Wind off the river, sharp and biting, tunneled straight through my blazer and down my spine. I tucked my chin into my scarf and told myself I didn’t care.
But somehow, I wasn’t surprised when Kieren ended up beside me, anyway.
We didn’t speak for a moment. Not while the wind kicked up and salt crunched beneath our boots on the icy pavement. Not while headlights flashed and brake lights flared and the valet called out someone’s name.
I tried not to shiver. I really did. But the cold sank deeper than I expected.
Then, without a word, Kieren shrugged off his coat.
He draped it over my shoulders like it meant nothing. Like we did this all the time.
My breath caught.
It was warm. Still holding the heat from his body, from the solid weight of him. And it smelled like cedar and cold air and something slightly spicy I hadn’t noticed before. Something him.
“Don’t read into it,” he said, voice low.
I smirked, but my fingers gripped the lapels before they could fall. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
But I did.
I did read into it.
Because it wasn’t just the coat. It was the way he didn’t hesitate. The way he stood close, just enough to block the wind. The way he didn’t try to fill the silence with small talk, like he knew I hated that.
My heart kicked a little harder in my chest, louder than it should’ve been for a man I was supposedly pretending to date.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
He was watching the curb, jaw tight, one hand in his pocket, the other adjusting the cuffs of his shirt like this was any other night. Like giving me his coat hadn’t meant anything.
And maybe it hadn’t. Maybe this was just who he was—quiet, responsible, oddly thoughtful.
But maybe…
Maybe it meant he saw me. Not just as part of a lie. Not just as damage control.
But something more.
A valet called his name, and we stepped forward together. The moment slipped between us like mist. But his coat stayed on my shoulders.
And I didn’t give it back.
Chapter 12
Kieren
The bus hummed beneath us, tires whispering over the highway as we made our way to Chicago. I had my headphones in, but I wasn’t listening to anything. Just white noise, a buffer between me and the rest of the team. The illusion of detachment.
Didn’t work.
The guys behind me weren’t exactly subtle.
“Are they actually together?” That was Beckett, curious in that half-gossipy, half-bored way he got on long trips.
“No way,” Adam said. “Too tense. She would’ve melted him by now.”
