Page 22 of Puck Daddies

She nods. “So this is private.”

“Yes.”

She takes one step more, and my heart bumps. She reaches out and touches my sleeve. She looks at me like she’s checking my balance. “It would be easy to set this on fire.”

“It would.” I shrug. “We won’t.”

Her hand slides down my sleeve to my wrist, and the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “You’re sure.”

“I’m sure of you. I’m sure of us four together. I’m sure of the rules. I’m not sure of the future. I don’t pretend I am.”

She exhales. “Good answer.”

“Thanks.” I force my hands to stay still on the edge of the table. “We can keep talking, or we can put on a movie, or I can make tea.”

She tilts her head. “Or we can flirt for ten minutes and then behave.”

I grin. “We can do that.”

She steps into my space one more inch. I stand still and let her set the pace. Her eyes are clear. Her mouth is steady. “I like your hands,” she says, eyes dropping to them. “They’re careful.”

I feel heat climb my neck. “Thank you.”

“I like how you talk about rules,” she says. “It makes me feel safe.”

“That’s the point.”

Her smile turns smaller. “I liked your mouth last night.”

I swallow. “I liked yours too.”

She leans up and kisses me once. Not long. Just contact. I don’t move. She pulls back half an inch and searches my face. “Still safe?”

“Yes.” I can hear my breath now.

She kisses me again. This time I kiss back, but I keep the pace slow and the pressure light, no matter how much I want this. When I feel her hand tighten on my wrist, I ease off by a degree and check her eyes. They’re clear. I kiss her once more and step back because that’s what the list says we do when the next step would make tomorrow stupid. We both have early mornings.

She laughs under her breath. “You really do follow rules.”

“Especially when I wrote them.”

She steps away from the table. “Movie?”

“Movie,” I say.

Hudson leans in the doorway, hair damp, shirt clinging to his back. “We still being adults?”

“Yes.” I roll my eyes.

Rocco hangs his coat on the hook and holds up a bag from the corner store. “I brought snacks.”

We settle on the couch with too much space between us on purpose. The movie is average and easy to watch without paying attention. Meg tucks her feet under her and sips water. Hudson watches the screen and not her. Rocco passes the bowl without letting his fingers brush anyone’s hand more than necessary. I sit on the end and count my breaths until they slow down.

Halfway through, Meg leans over and whispers so only I can hear, “Thank you,Fitz.”

I turn my head. “You’re welcome,Meg.”

It’s the stupid kind of teasing friends do that makes sense to no one but them. Her mouth turns up at the corner again, and she looks at the screen. I look too. I check the clock and do the math on hours of sleep before morning. We made a plan. We will keep it.