Xander doesn't even try to hide his grin. "Is that what we're calling it now?"
"Mr. Xander." Chesca tugs on his sleeve. "Can we watch a movie? You promised."
"Did I promise? I don't remember promising."
"You PROMISED."
"Hmm. My memory's not what it used to be. Must be old age."
"You're not OLD. You're like... thirty."
"Thirty is ancient, munchkin. Practically prehistoric."
Their bickering fades as Xander lets Chesca drag him toward the living room, already negotiating which movie and whether popcorn counts as a second dinner.
Xander pauses at the threshold. Glances back at me, then down at my chest—specifically, at the shirt I'm wearing.
His eyebrow rises. The smirk spreads slow and deliberate.
The shirt. I almost forgot the shirt.
If I hadn't come downstairs early to grab it from where Angelina threw it, he'd have found it crumpled on the living room floor. Evidence. The kind that doesn't need explanation because it explains itself.
I hold his gaze. Don't react.
He mouths something that looks suspiciously likesmoothand disappears into the living room after Chesca.
Too close.
Angelina moves to stand beside me in the kitchen doorway. Close enough that our shoulders almost touch.
"Training accident?" she murmurs.
"Best I could do on short notice."
"She's going to figure it out eventually."
"She's eight."
"She's MY eight-year-old. She notices everything." Angelina's mouth curves. "Including the fact that you're suddenly very interested in self-defense lessons."
"I'm a dedicated student."
"Mmm." She bumps her shoulder against mine. Casual. Almost domestic. "Thank you. For earlier. For... all of it."
I turn to look at her. The late afternoon light catches the gold in her eyes, and something in my chest cracks open a little further.
"I'm not going anywhere," I say again. Because it bears repeating. Because she needs to hear it as many times as it takes to believe it.
Her hand finds mine. Squeezes once.
"I know."
From the living room, Chesca's voice rises in triumph. "HA! You DO remember promising!"
"Fine, fine." Xander's dramatic sigh carries through the house. "But if we're watchingFrozenagain, I'm going to need popcorn."
"You just HAD ice cream!"