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DANAE

Then come on over. Maybe wait till the pick-up line dwindles down. Maybe around 3:30? I’ll let you inthe side door.

ME

Sounds good. What’s your go-to coffee shop order?

DANAE

Morning or afternoon?

ME

Both.

DANAE

Mornings = hot vanilla latte. Afternoons = decaf caramel cold brew.

ME

Of course that was my general question of the morning, not relevant to any occurrences today.

DANAE

What’s yours?

ME

One cup of black coffee in the morning. Never in the afternoon.

DANAE

So I’m drinking alone this afternoon, huh?

ME

You’ll be the only one with a coffee, but you absolutely won’tbe alone.

“Sneaking me in past the principal, huh?” I tease as I step into the building with Danae. “This is giving forbidden vibes, and I can’t say I dislike it.”

Danae slaps my chest, and I catch her hand to hold it there while I take a step closer to her. We’re in the entry between the locked outer doors and the second set of glass doors opening into the hallway of the school, and I intend to take advantage of this illusion of privacy. A quick glance ensures that the hallway is empty, so I wrap an arm around Danae’s waist and pull her to me.

I graze a gentle kiss across her lips, smiling when she sighs and relaxes against me. Threading my fingers through her hair, I kiss her a little more firmly but still stay on the low end of the “passionate” spectrum. Breaking away from her lips, I brush the tip of my nose against hers.

“These past four days have been worse than the post-surgery pain,” I murmur.

“Worse than a first grader swiping an entire display of book fair knick-knacks off the table,” she replies.

I lean back and raise an eyebrow. “Wait, has that actually happened?”

“He didn’t have enough money left over for the chocolate bar calculator. It was very distressing,” Danae says gravely. “And a huge headache to clean up.”

“I have a confession to make,” I say. “I just realized I left your iced coffee in the car. But I don’t want to let go of you to go get it.”

Trailing one finger down her arm, I take her hand in mine, pleased by her shiver that follows my touch. She shakes her head slightly, as if clearing her mind. “I don’t care about the coffee.”

“Good,” I say. “Let’s go get that library decorated so we can get to my house.”