Her head lifts slowly. “You knew it was about my father?”
“I didn’t know,” I say. “I felt it.”
She swallows.
“You should send them out,” I continue, stepping closer without realizing it. “There are people out there who feel exactly like that and don’t know how to say it.”
I gesture toward her. “You do.”
Her smile breaks open, bright and real, and before I can brace for it, she’s on her feet, closing the distance.
Her arms wrap around me.
And everything in me goes still.
For a second, I don’t move.
Then instinct kicks in and my arms come up around her, pulling her in closer than I should, her body fitting against mine in a way that feels…
Right.
Too right.
Warm.
Soft.
Like stepping into something I didn’t know I’d been missing.
The scent of her wraps around me, orange blossom and something sweeter underneath, and my chest tightens again, harder this time, my heartbeat picking up in a way that has nothing to do with the moment and everything to do withher.
This is a mistake.
I know it is.
Because if I hold her like this, if I let myself lean into it even a little more, I’m not sure I’ll stop at just a hug.
And that’s the problem.
She pulls back too fast, like she felt it too, her cheeks flushed.
“I’m sorry, I just… I’ve never played that for anyone before.”
My hand settles on her shoulder before I can stop it, grounding her, or maybe grounding myself.
“I liked it,” I say.
That’s not enough.
But it’s all I trust myself to give.
Because standing this close to her, with her looking at me like that, with her music still echoing in my head, I feel something shifting under my skin, something I don’t have control over anymore.
And I don’t like how much I don’t want to stop it.
So I step back, dragging a hand over the back of my neck.
“So… what comes after Ant-Man?” I ask, forcing something lighter into my voice.
