She coughed to clear her throat. “Honestly, I didn’t stick around long enough to become a big problem. I got shuffled around a lot. Moved to plenty of different houses but not for the reasons you’d think. Sometimes people only fostered to make extra money. Not because they really wanted to help.” Looking up at the ceiling, she fought the emotion attempting to break free. “I tried to make things easy on people, but…” Her voice broke and she shrugged before forcing a smile. “People can’t always stick around, especially when you aren’t their child.”
He continued to watch her with that penetrating stare that unnerved her so much. The tension between them was far too tumultuous. She needed to break it before it crashed down around both of them. Letting out a strangled laugh, she shook her head. “That’s why I think I like working with your cousins. Your family seems to look out for the people around them.” She finally tugged her hand free and wiped beneath her eyes, even though there wasn’t a tear to speak of. “Emerson sings their high praises. And he’s been around for a while.”
Mathew was frowning, and she hated that she’d dragged the earlier smile from his face.
So she cleared her throat and tried to steer the conversation back onto safer ground. “Okay, enough about that. When I asked what you were like as a child, I meant funny stories. Like, did you ever want to play pretend and be the doctor with your siblings as your nurse and patient?”
Mathew blinked, then burst out laughing.
River laughed too, relief washing through her as the heaviness eased.
The rest of the evening only got better after that. They stayed on lighter topics, and Mathew told stories of his childhood that made her genuinely smile.
By the time he walked her up to her apartment door, she didn’t want the night to end.
River turned toward him, her fingers resting on the doorknob. “I liked tonight,” she said, quieter than she meant to. “With you.”
Mathew’s eyes held hers, warm and searching, like he could see into her soul.
“And...” She swallowed, forcing herself to finish. “I’d like to do it again... if you want to.”
His smile spread slowly, like he was trying not to look too pleased and failing anyway.
“I’d like that,” he said.
River’s breath caught, because something about the way he said it felt like a promise.
Then he stepped closer—close enough that the air shifted between them.
His hand settled at her waist, making a warmth spread throughout her body. The other lifted, his fingers brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face.
River didn’t move. Couldn’t. Not when his touch was stealing the breath right out of her lungs.
His gaze dropped to her mouth, then lifted back to her eyes, giving her one last chance to pull away.
She didn’t.
Mathew leaned in, slow but sure, and when his lips met hers, the kiss wasn’t rushed or hungry—it was gentle. Warm. The kind of kiss that made her feel like they were the only two people in the world.
Her fingers curled in the front of his shirt without permission, holding on because her knees had gone a little untrustworthy. And when he deepened the kiss—she melted into it before she could stop herself.
This… was getting dangerous.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against hers for a few heartbeats, like he didn’t want to let the moment go.
River exhaled shakily. “Well,” she managed.
His quiet laugh brushed across her skin. “Well… looks like the chances of me being your happily ever after just got higher.”
The faintest memory of a similar conversation flooded her senses. She’d asked him if he was going to be her happily ever after when she first met him, but she’d been teasing. Judging by the sparkle in his eyes, he hadn’t forgotten.
She looked up at him with a small smile on her face, still trying to remember how breathing worked. “Looks like it did. Goodnight, Mathew.”
His eyes softened at his name on her lips. “Goodnight, River.”
She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Heart racing, cheeks warm, and feeling far too aware that this one date… had just changed everything.
17
