“Yeah. Tiffany even tried to get me to take a cat once.”
“Peaches is our station cat,” I commented.
“I’m all for pets,” Tori said.
“Oh, same. I love animals,” I admitted. “But I’m a hotshot firefighter. When I’m gone for the summer, that’s a long stretch.”
“I’ll take care of any pet you get when you’re gone,” she offered.
“Really?” I turned toward her.
“Of course. That’s an easy yes.”
“I didn’t even ask,” I pointed out.
“No,” she said, grinning. “But I’m offering. Hypothetically, if you did ask, the answer would be yes.”
After Bella did her business, she immediately trotted back up the stairs and onto the small porch. When Tori gestured for me to come in, I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t want the night to end. Not just yet.
As I stepped inside, my mind flicked, just briefly, to everyone who had warned me to be good to Tori. As if I’d be anything else. Still, it struck me, standing there in her quiet space, how different this felt. How much more than I could’ve ever expected. Even though we’d only had two kisses, it already felt like more.
Bella curled up on a dog bed in the living room, directly in front of a small wood stove.
“She likes the heat,” Tori said with a smile, shrugging off her jacket.
“Well, of course she does. It’s warm. Even though it’s technically spring…” I glanced at the frost along the edge of the window. “It’s still Alaska.”
Tori hung her jacket on the hook by the door and turned to face me. Several beats passed in silence. A long pause stretched between us, brimming with everything unspoken and the embers of need burning low.
“Should I go?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t want you to,” she said, her cheeks flushing as she spoke.
“I don’t want to leave,” I added, my voice low in the quiet.
A soft snore from Bella floated through the room, and Tori’s smile turned sheepish. “She snores.”
I simply nodded. With a quiet motion, she bent to remove her boots. When she straightened, she took a step closer, her hands lifting to my shoulders. Her fingers curled lightly as she eased my jacket down, brushing it down my arms. I shrugged out of it, hanging it beside hers before turning back to face her.
“Here’s the thing,” I said, reaching for one of her hands.
Somehow, just touching her quieted the usual doubts that ricocheted around my brain. “I like you.”
Tori blinked up at me, then cleared her throat. “That’s handy,” she said softly. “I like you too.”
My lips curved into a smile. There was an intimacy building between us—something bracing and electric that made me feel alive in a way I hadn’t in years. Instead of thinking too hard, I stepped closer. I let go of her hand and raised mine to lightly palm her cheek.
“I’m going to kiss you again,” I whispered against her lips.
I loved that I could feel the curve of her smile when she murmured, “Please do.”
I let myself savor the moment—the soft give of her lips underneath mine, the sweet taste of her, the way she sighed into the kiss like she was giving in to gravity. She arched against me, her tongue dancing with mine, her body all curves and strength.
When we broke apart, my restraint was a paper-thin wall holding back a flood. Lust frayed the edges, demanding more. I scrambled for purchase inside.
Not because I didn’t want her, but because I did. Too much, too fast, and I didn’t want to fuck it up. This wasn’t something I usually thought too hard about. And yet, tangled somewhere deep in me were the faded scars of absence, of growing up without a father. Of watching my mother carry it all alone. I didn’t want to be that man to anyone.
I was scrambling to find my balance here. It wasn’t that I’d never felt pure, hot want before. It was that this didn’t just feel like lust. It felt like a riptide, and I was caught in its rush and force.
