Because shebelieves me.
Because maybe shewantsthis as much as I do.
She pulls back just enough to whisper against my lips.“Come home with me.”
I swallow, pulse hammering behind my ribs because her words mean everything.“You mean toourplace?”
She groans, pushing at my chest, but I catch her hand, linking my fingers through hers.
“Shut up get us an Uber,” she mutters, but she’s smiling.
She doesn’t rush to fill the silence.
Neither do I.
It stretches between us, thick with everything we’re still learning how to say.
Her fingers are still tangled in my shirt, her breath still a little uneven.She’s watching me the way she did downstairs, like she’s trying to figure out if this is real—ifwe’rereal.
I’m still trying to figure it out myself.
Beyond our booth, people drift toward the back rooms, slipping past heavy curtains and disappearing without a second glance.Some barely make it that far, lost in whispered conversations, in hands that wander too easily, in promises that won’t make it past the night.
She notices, but doesn’t ask the questions lingering in her eyes.Anna’s smart.I’m sure she’ll come to the same conclusion I did about this place.
Her fingers still curled into my shirt, her lips still pink from kissing me, her body still angled toward mine like she doesn’t want to pull away.
I brush my thumb over her knuckles, just once, just enough to feel her warmth.“So?”
She tilts her head.“So?”
I smirk.“Are you coming with me?”
Her breath catches.
I watch her lips part, watch the way her chest rises and falls too fast, watch herconsider it.
She exhales, pressing her tongue to the inside of her cheek, gaze flicking down for just a second before she looks back at me.
And then, she grins.
Not wide.
Not big.
Justenough.
“I said come home with me, didn’t I?”she murmurs, voice soft but teasing.
My stomach fucking flips.
I lean in, brushing my lips against hers, speaking against her mouth.“Yeah, but I’m greedy, Ace.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s still smiling, still here, stillchoosing me.
I tighten my grip on her fingers, lacing them with mine.
Her voice dips lower, teasing but threaded with something more.“I’ll think on it.”