He nudged my shoulder with his. “You keep doing this thing where you look like you’re solving impossible, icky math problems in your head. Stop that.”
“I do not,” I protested weakly.
“You do,” he said, utterly certain. “You get this tiny wrinkle right here.” He tapped lightly between my brows. “And then you forget to have fun.”
I swatted his hand away, but not very convincingly.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
Iwasthinking.
About what this meant. About how easily I fit with them. About how dangerous that all felt.
It felt like I belonged with them. Forever.
Like I could just let go, give in to the Little girl inside me, and just be.
And that thought scared me witless.
Because if I let go, really let go, there would be no pretending after. No safe Little experiment I could pack away when my time at the Ranch ended. No tidy version of me who went home untouched.
There would just be… this.
“Hope,” Perry whispered.
I looked up.
He was already leaning in, slow enough that I could stop him, gentle enough that it didn’t feel like pressure. His fingers brushed my cheek, thumb tracing that tiny wrinkle he’d been teasing me about.
“You’re thinking again,” he murmured, soft and fond. “C’mere. No scary maths. Just this.”
His lips touched mine before I could argue.
My hands curled into his shirt without meaning to. I felt him smile against my mouth, heard the tiny, pleased sound he made when I kissed him back properly.
And just like that, the storm in my head went quiet.
For one perfect, terrifying, wonderful moment, I stopped thinking.
I just kissed him.
Chapter Fifteen
Tyrell
I’d never thought watching my Little boy kiss someone else would make my chest feel this full.
But there they were, tangled together on the blanket, Hope’s fingers knotted in Perry’s shirt, Perry smiling into her mouth like he’d just been handed the sun.
And God help me, I was hard as a rock from the way Perry looked—braver than I’d ever seen him, leaning into Hope with that soft little laugh of his—letting himself be wanted. Letting himself want back.
My hand tightened in the blanket beside me.
Tyrell, behave.
Lee shifted closer, shoulder brushing mine, his hand resting just next to mine, close enough that I could just reach out and... touch. I knew he felt it too, but I hadn’t discussed going there yet with Perry and would wait until we were both on the same page.
Hope made a small sound when Perry tugged her into his lap, so she straddled him, settling herself on top of him. She gasped when she felt him, hips rocking once in surprise before instinct took over.
