“Nothing. How about you?”
“No big plans?”
“No plans at all. My mom has another date tonight.”
“So … Do you want to stay?”
“For dinner?” I ask.
“Yeah. For dinner.”
“Well, when you bribe me with food, I can hardly say no, can I?”
“Exactly. I might even have some hot cocoa around here somewhere.” He smiles.
“Oh, that’s just hitting below the belt. Completely out of bounds.”
“I play to win.”
“I already told you that you won.”
His smile grows and he brushes my hair back and leans in to place a soft, lingering kiss on my cheek.
We settle into two chairs on the back porch. Greyson tells me stories about the station before I got there. I tell him about Mia. We talk about life in Waterford. The sun drops lower and we move indoors. He makes dinner, only allowing me to make the salad.
“I want to serve you,” he says simply.
“Who serves you?” I ask, knowing I’ve entered a topic that’s a minefield, so I’m stepping carefully.
“I do,” he says.
“You do not,” I nudge him playfully with a salad tong. “You serve Waterford. Zach’s mom. Cody’s family. The team. Me.”
He shrugs.
I don’t push.
We eat in his dining room. He even lights a candle. It’s comfortable and more quietly domestic than romantic—and that hits me in a different way. I haven’t shared life with anyone but Avery, Mom and Mia for so long.
After dinner, we wash dishes, standing side-by-side at the sink.
“Thanks for staying,” he says.
“I had the sweetest day.”
“I did too. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Lunch with my mom. Otherwise, nothing.”
“You’re really bad at this day off thing. Did you know that?” he teases.
I walk into the living room, reluctantly getting ready to leave.
“Maybe you could teach me how to improve my skills.”
“Someone better teach you,” he smiles down at me.
“I vote you.”
