Page 168 of Puck Me Back to Life

“I'm fine.”

“You don't look fine.”

“I'm fine.”

“You won't look at me.”

“That's unrelated.”

He steps closer. His hand finds mine.

Warm and gentle.

He threads our fingers together. “Seriously.”

His thumb brushes across my knuckles. “Thank you.”

God.

Nobody has thanked me like that before.

Not for something that mattered.

Not like this.

I squeeze his hand once. Then look at the floor again.

“What?” Kai asks quietly.

“Nothing.”

“You've gone all weird.”

I laugh under my breath. “It's just…” I shake my head. “Forget it.”

He waits patiently.

I finally meet his eyes again. “I like taking care of you.”

The admission hangs between us.

“So…” I point toward the kitchen before I completely embarrass myself. “You should probably stop talking.”

Kai blinks. “Why?”

“Because if you keep saying sweet things to me...” I take one slow step closer. “...I'm going to carry you into your bedroom.”

His eyebrows lift. “And then?”

“Then dinner is going to burn.”

He laughs.

Bright.

Unrestrained.

“Angela will smell it through the wall and she will kill me. So absolutely not.”