Page 27

Zach sees no difference in his skin when he wipes the face mask off, but it made Mali smile, so he’ll probably do it again. He flicks the bathroom light off as he strolls across the hallway in her robe. He doesn’t want tonight to end, but he’s not sure how to ask her to stay. Somehow, the steam from the bathroom made it easy to talk about a life he wants, but now he’s terrified to go for it.

Then, her bedroom door opens, and she’s changed from the pyjamas she was in to new ones. He said it was silly at the time, but now she’s only in his top. The tops of her thighs are bare, and he worries this robe, which sits too high on his own thighs, won’t hide a growing erection.

“Hey.”

“Hi. Do you want…” Mali says, then shakes her head. “Never mind. Night!”

“Wait,” he says, but she shuffles back into her room like a thief in the night. She’s not that fast, though. Her socks get caught on the carpet, but she can’t walk fast regardless. Zach reaches out, holding her elbow lightly. “Mal.”

“Zachariah.” He gulps. No one ever calls him that but her. He’s spent the best part of his life hating his name, but the way she says it, it sounds like a melody. His fingers tighten against her elbow. She doesn’t mention it.

“What were you going to say?” he asks. Mali rolls her neck, and Zach wonders what it would be like to kiss her there.

“It’s going to sound weird.”

“Tell me anyway.”

She pouts, and he steps closer, though he realises too late that he never let her arm go. Her room is only partly illuminated by the lamppost outside. It will turn off soon. Something he thought was silly mere months ago. The whole point in streetlights is that they’re supposed to protect you when it’s dark. Right now, he doesn’t feel protected at all. He feels like she’s about to ask him if he’ll go diving with a shark and he’ll be underwater so fast she’ll barely have time to blink.

“Tell me,” he whispers. She doesn’t because she’s a brat, but then she shuffles where she stands, and he knows he’s won.

She sighs. “Do you wanna sleep in my room with me?”

Zach short-circuits. His hand falls from her arm so fast it hits the doorframe on the way down.

“Well,” she says, with a light laugh. “Don’t be weird about it.”

“You want me to sleep with you?”

Mali’s eyes darken. He thinks. The streetlights just went out, so it’s entirely plausible it’s that and the thought of sleeping together did nothing to her eyes.

“I’m not asking you to fuck me,” she says, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Zach barely swallows a moan. He’s spent so long thinking about the feel of her, the way she’d move, the way she’d moan, that he’s foolishly not been imagining what she’d sound like when she speaks. God, what he’d do for her to ask. Zach’s not sure how she makes the word “fuck” sound like a prayer, but he’ll get on his knees if she so much as whispers that she wants him too.

Zach swallows. She’s the prettiest thing he’s ever seen, and he can barely see the outline of her. But he doesn’t mind. His physics teacher taught him that his eyes would adjust to darkness; it might just take a while. (Zach used to be scared of the night, because in his defence, it’s creepy .) So, he knows he only needs to be patient, and she’ll be back. Zach has never been so glad he paid attention in school. In the meantime, he reaches for her arm again.

“But,” she says, stepping closer, “that’s because I’m on bedrest until tomorrow. Doctor’s orders. Otherwise, yeah, I would ask you to fuck me.”

Mali comes back into focus, and he watches the way she blinks. He flicks his eyes over her face. The slight drop of her jaw, the way her chest moves, the way she’s watching him intently. He moves forwards, his hand light against her waist. She tilts her head when he brushes his nose against hers. Her lips are so close, but then she moves again.

“Not until tomorrow,” she whispers, and he moans this time. A deep, feels it in his chest, in his dick, in his heart moan.

“You’re a brat,” he mutters against her hairline, and she laughs, pulling him into the room. It’s not awkward, getting into her bed. He slips her dressing gown off, and she gives him a side and a bonnet he immediately forgets to put on because her top rides up when she sits down and she’s wearing some ridiculously small pants, and she just said she’d fuck him. The words came out of her mouth, and it needed no prompting at all. So, now he’s hard, of course, but he’s comfy too. He’s only ever seen her room from the hallway when she leans against the doorframe and he talks about nothing because he doesn’t want the day to end, but still.

It’s quiet for a while, and he watches the patterns that the movement of the net curtains make against the ceiling. It’s chilly tonight, but Zach keeps the window open in case it means Mali moves closer.

She doesn’t, but he does feel her fidget a little. “Sorry if this is weird. I don’t want you to think I think you’re a mail-order bride.”

Zach smiles. “You saying you wanna marry me, Okeye?”

Mali laughs, but she doesn’t say no, and Zach will have it carved into his gravestone. He reaches across the wide expanse of the mattress to find her fingers. He smiles at the ceiling when she links their fingers together, and he wants to kiss her so badly he almost feels inhuman.

“You wanna hear about the outbuilding?”

“Finally,” he says, and he tugs her the tiniest bit closer.

“It’s for your mum,” she whispers, and Zach’s entire world turns on its axis. The universe might implode, leaving Mali somewhere at the centre of it all.

“Excuse me?”

“You haven’t found anywhere nearby that’s on the ground floor,” she says, talking fast, like she does when she’s nervous. He feels her fingers flex against his, but there’s no way he’s letting her go. “And I know you’d rather die than have her in a care home, and we have the space. I’ve read a lot of articles lately, and loads of doctors agree that it’s enough independence that she won’t get annoyed with you, and it’s close enough that you can keep an eye on her. It would give you so much time back as well.”

“Mali,” he says, turning his face to look at her. She’s already looking at him.

“Zach.”

His voice is a whisper. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not? Is it because you think I’ll kick her out? Because I won’t. I know we never got around to you having a contract, but I’ll make one for her.”

“It’s too much.”

“She’s been so much better lately, don’t you think?” she asks. And he agrees. He still sees her most days, but she spends so much time with Zamina and Mosi that her bad days are significantly less frequent. “I like your mum a lot, but I’m not doing it for her.”

“Mal,” he whispers. He can feel his eyes welling up, and it’s the strangest sensation. She smiles like she knows he’ll do whatever she wants for the rest of time.

“Say yes,” she says, moving towards him. She rests her forearm on his chest, and he wonders if this is what being in love feels like for everyone. “Please say yes.” She’s his best friend in the entire world. The only person he can rely on wholeheartedly. The only person he trusts with his life, with his heart, with his family.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Mali smiles like he’s the one doing something for her. “It’s going to be so fun!”

“Yeah,” he replies, his fingers lightly tracing the side of her face. Her eyes drop to his lips, then back to his eyes, and then she lies back down. Zach wonders how to get her to kiss him for real. He should initiate it, but he thinks his entire body would shake as he tried. It’s never felt like this before. Like a kiss could change his entire life.

Mali settles next to him, and his hand falls to her waist. She runs her fingertips along his stomach, then up his chest and back. In his mind, Mali is a tease. When he’s in his room trying to drag it out, she’s a tease, but now she’s a tease in real life, and he’s supposed to be able to do something about it.

Instead, his grip gets tighter on her T-shirt, and she moves against him again.

“How are your ribs?” Zach whispers, his fingers running along her ribcage.

“Okay,” she replies, and while it’s the answer he wants, it’s also not.

“Are you sure?” He shuffles around her. He’s carful with it, and it makes little sense because he’s not a magical being who can make someone feel better, but he’s happy to try anyway. Mali lies on her back, propped up by the pillows, and she swallows when he looks up at her. His fingers shake, but the need to make her feel better overrides it.

“Are your legs hanging off the bed?” she asks, her eyebrow raised.

“Mind your business,” he replies, bunching her T-shirt up. He’s never seen this part of her body for any reason other than checking her bruises, and he feels like the luckiest guy in the world that he’s allowed to be here with her. He tries to ignore her tiny orange lacy pants. Did she wear them for him? Maybe, seeing as she must have known they were going to end up here. Zach counts to three in his head, then he presses his lips against her rib, and she takes a deep breath in.

“Careful,” he whispers. He runs his nose along her skin, kissing her again. “Does that hurt?”

“N-no.” The skip in her words plays in a loop in his mind. When Mali was talking about sex before, he never doubted that if he were lucky enough to sleep with her, he would enjoy her pleasure. But now he’s here, nowhere near sex—he’s just kissing her skin—and he thinks he could rule the world. Bring on the dinosaurs, send in the bears; he could take them all down with the sound of her choppy breaths alone.

Zach hums, repeating the action. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No,” she replies, her fingers working their way into his hair, and he sighs. He runs his fingers lightly against her skin on one side, matching the pattern with his lips on the other. He leaves hearts, and flowers, and he spells out that he loves her. If only he was ever brave enough to tell her that with his words.

Zach’s not stupid—he thinks Mali might fancy him for real. But now, he’s caught whatever she has. The want to please someone he loves. He’s not sure how he’d ever be casual with her. He’s not sure how he’s supposed to go on tomorrow knowing what her stomach feels like under his lips. How is he supposed to wake up and go to work knowing how she sucks in a breath as she tugs on his hair?

She might fancy him now, but will she ever love him the way he craves?

This was a mistake. He can’t bring himself to stop touching her. Every time he presses another kiss to her ribs, her stomach tightens. Every time he squeezes her thigh, she lifts her hips a little. Every time he nips at her skin, he hears the sounds she was making in her room. But he can’t stop and lie next to her again because his erection might make a shadow on the fucking wall.

“Zach,” she whispers, and he resumes his movements. His hand runs along her thigh. She was bruised here too. She widens her legs, and he moves his dick slowly against the mattress.

“Zach.” Her voice is deeper. He glances up at her. Her brows are furrowed, and her hand is resting just under her T-shirt. His entire body tenses at the thought of her touching herself to things that he does. Her hips move again, and he can’t believe she wants him too. Right now, he doesn’t care if she wants it to be casual. He’d do anything she asked for.

“You’re hurt,” he whispers. “Baby, you’re hurt.”

She sighs, her fingers tightening in his hair. “I think about you like this all the time. Sometimes it’s your tongue, sometimes your fingers.”

“Mali,” he warns, his palm against her hip. She rests her other hand against him, and he locks their fingers together. “And you’re so good. You make me feel so good.” He runs his tongue along the band of her pants. “Please,” she mutters. “I’ll be so careful.”

Zach moans, pulling the band of her underwear in his teeth. “It’s not tomorrow,” he replies. It’s barely eleven, but the dark night sky makes it feel like it could be three a.m. Like there’s nothing outside of these walls that he would ever care about.

Mali laughs. “Dickhead.”

Zach reaches a hand up and slides it under her shirt. He runs over her hand, and she moves out of his way. His fingertips lightly graze over her nipple, and she moans, a deep, long moan that he feels in his gut. Zach’s thought about this so many times, and it’s better than he ever imagined. He wonders why he tried when he’s not an artist. He’s not a poet, or a scholar, so how would he ever adequately describe the breathy moans she makes? The way she looks like a painting underneath him?

He presses his lips to her hipbone, moving his way down her body until he hooks her legs over his shoulders. He peers up at her, and she’s already looking at him, leaning up on her elbows, and her hair is fluffy and her eyes are slightly wide, and she’s so fucking delightful he can barely breathe.

“Hi,” she says, a small smile on her face. Zach’s never felt this comfortable with someone before. There’s a pressure that’s new to him. He needs her to feel good, he needs her to have a good time, but he’s not nervous. If he gets something wrong, she’ll tell him, and he won’t be embarrassed. He’ll just switch it up.

“Hi, baby,” he whispers, pressing his lips against her knee. “You want my tongue?”

She pulls her lip between her teeth. “Are you any good with it?”

Zach bites at her thigh lightly, and she laughs, falling back against the pillow.

“You tell me.” Zach kisses along her thigh, to her knee and back. He’s lower this time, and he moves his nose across the wet patch on her pants. He swallows, taking a moment to keep himself in check because he can’t come when he has barely touched her. Zach will just touch her once, and then he’ll stop. They’ll go to sleep, and he won’t risk further injury. He’ll do as she asks this one time.

He runs his fingertip along the material of her pants. “Are you going to be good?”

“I will,” she whispers. “I’ll be so good.” Zach hums. He hooks his fingers under the strap, and Mali lifts her hips to accommodate him. Zach swallows when he leans down again. It’s dark, but there’s enough moonlight to highlight the sharp points of her hipbone. The crease of her thigh touching her hip. The neatly trimmed hair of her pussy. Zach’s in awe of her, as he always is. He traces the indent of her pants until he’s lost to the smell of her. How wet he knows she already is, and he’s barely touched her.

Her voice is quieter when she speaks again. “Just put your tongue on me and I’ll come.”

Zach moans, squeezing his eyes shut. He’s slow with it, and not because he’s scared, but because he never wants this to end. He doesn’t want tomorrow to appear, where he must live anywhere other than between her legs. Mali’s hips buck, and he presses his tongue against her slit, licking her open. She tastes better than he could ever have thought, and he already hopes she wants to do this again, because he knows he’s going to give her whatever she wants and he’s desperate to wind her up properly. To know what makes the breathy moans leave her throat, to know how to touch her nipples so she pulls his hair like she’s doing now.

He was just going to do it once—really, he was—but her hand is tight in his hair, and her moan is guttural. He repeats the motion, deeper this time, and Zach moans against her, pulling her flush against his face with his hands on top of her thighs. He needs her closer. He wants her to be part of him. It’s supposed to be slow, to have any semblance of rhythm, but suddenly, he’s feral with it. His tongue flicks against her, his lips sucking at her clit.

“Oh my God,” she whines. “Please.” He repeats the motion as best he can, but he’s lost in the pleasure of her sounds. She lifts her hips just a little, and he moves his tongue so she doesn’t have to move at all. He’s not supposed to be touching her, but she’s moaning, writhing underneath him, and he’s never been strong around her.

“Like that,” she says, and he’s never been so turned on in his life. He’d willingly never come again if he got to see her like this forever. He flicks his eyes up, and her lip is caught in her teeth. Her brows are furrowed, and she’s rolling her nipple between her fingers. God, he’s thought about her tits longer than he should have. He drops his hold on her thigh, and he runs his thumb over the dark skin, pinching her nipple lightly as he moves her hand. It’s possessive, the way he wants to touch her. To be in control of her pleasure.

“Zach,” she moans, her hips moving in a steadier rhythm. “Fuck, you feel so good. I’ve dreamt about your fucking hands and it’s—God, it’s so much better.”

“Mali.” He watches her, the blush on her cheeks evident even with the darkness of the room, and he wonders if he’ll ever be able to leave here. If he’s destined to stay in this room with her and make her come again and again forever. He wants to figure out every single way to touch her. To make her gasp, to make her moan, to make her shake.

“It’s insane how much I want you,” she mutters, her hips moving in a steady motion. “And you’re right here.” Zach grips his dick tightly so he doesn’t come before she’s even halfway there. “Fuck.”

“What do I need to do for you to make the noise?” he asks, his palms back against her thighs, holding her open.

“What noise?” She gasps, her hands pulling his hair to bring him back to her, but he’s stronger.

“That stupid hot noise you make whenever you touch yourself in your bedroom.”

She gasps, leaning up on her elbows. “Can you hear me?” Zach stares at the way her top bunches against her chest, her nipples erect enough to keep the material cascading over her body. He runs his finger along her slit, then circles her nipple just so he can see it shine. Mali’s eyes roll back, so he does it again.

“Maybe,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to her clit. He flicks his tongue around, and she holds his gaze for as long as she can before her head hits her pillow again.

“You’ll figure it out,” she gasps, her fingers playing with her nipples above him. They knock against his, and he threads their fingers together.

“Fuck, you’re so hot, Mal,” he groans, pulling her tighter against his face.

“Oh God,” she whines, her voice almost shot as he licks at her. She’s gripping his hair so tight he knows she’s close. He hopes she’s close, because he’s about to blow and he doesn’t wanna come in his boxers like a teenager. He wonders if he would if she asked. He wonders if she’ll let him make her come again.

“You know that crazy hot sound you think I make?” she asks.

“Mmmm.”

“I’m usually thinking about you,” she replies. She drops his hand so she can grip the pillow next to her, and he only lets her get away with it because he wants to be in her.

“I knew it,” he whispers.

“Liar.” She laughs, her back arching off her mattress. His tongue dips into her cunt once, and he realises he needs more. He wants the taste of her, the feel of her, the noise. He flicks against her clit again, sliding a finger into her slowly.

“Sweet fuck, Mal, you’re so wet. So fucking hot.”

“Zach,” she pleads, her heels digging into his back. “Fuck, I’m gonna come.” Her back arches, her chest obstructing the view of her face, but he’ll survive. Zach’s never felt pleasure like this. There’s never been a time where he’s felt as electric as he does right now. Mali’s hips slow, but he keeps his tongue on her anyway. He might just not move. He might wait here until she’s ready to ride his face again.

But then she pulls him back to her, and he’s more than willing to go. Her arms link around him, and he lies beside her, trying to catch his breath. He breathes like he’s been playing a match. Like he’s been running nonstop for eighty minutes.

“You’re the sexiest woman alive,” he pants, and she giggles, hugging him close. “Truly divine. Heavenly.” Zach presses his lips to her collarbone. He sucks gently, and Mali rolls her neck until he licks up her throat. “Can you believe I didn’t even google that, Mal?” His lips touch her jaw, and she moves, pushing him onto his back.

“You didn’t?” she asks. Her chest heaves with every breath she takes, and he has to grip the sheets to not pull her to him. Her eyes roam his body, lingering on his dick, which strains against his boxers. Zach wonders if she’s changed her mind. He’d let her go, of course, he’s not sure he’ll survive it.

Zach shakes his head. “I mean…” He licks his lips. Mali watches the motion. “I did google it, but right at the start, and it kept saying the same thing. Beautiful, stunning. Such basic words. True, you are both of those things, but you look like you should be on the ceiling of some ancient church so people can worship you.”

Mali blinks, her eyes wide. It takes a moment, but then she speaks. “You’re so fucking sexy.” And with that, she straddles his lap and runs her tongue along his lower lip. She doesn’t kiss him, and he moans at the lack of contact as he chases her lips. He sits up, his arms around her waist, her thighs, her arse, as she pulls on his hair. “It’s ridiculous how you say you have to google things and then you say that like it’s nothing.” Her lips touch his throat, and he moans when she pulls at his skin with her teeth. His girl is a tease, and fuck if he doesn’t love her.

“I love your face,” she mutters, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his forehead. “And I love this.” She traces his shoulders with her fingers, shuffling in his lap. He groans, rolling his neck back when she repeats the motion.

Zach tenses his jaw when she moves her hips again. “I love this part,” he replies, running his fingers up the divot of her spine. She either presses her body against his, or he pulls her closer. All he knows is that he can feel her nipples against his skin. His fingers linger under her T-shirt, and he slowly moves to pull it off. He blows out a deep breath when her top falls to the floor, and he tries his best not to stare at her, but she’s perfect, so he doesn’t do a particularly good job.

“And this.” He lifts to place his lips against her shoulder, her collarbone, her jaw. “Oh, I love your face.” His nose bumps against hers, and it feels like a lifetime between that and her lips touching his. “You’re so pretty.” She kisses him again. “You’re so fucking pretty, baby.”

Her hands start as his jaw, clawing at his skin until her arms are around his neck. She moans, her tongue pushing against his.

“Everything,” he mutters. “You’re everything.” He’s not sure how to stop praising her now she’s finally kissing him. It’s all he’s thought about for months. It’s all that got him through the lonely nights in his old apartment.

“God, I think about you all the time,” she says, and then she’s kissing him again. As if everything she just said hasn’t rendered him completely useless. As if she hasn’t just turned his world upside down, because how did he manage to do anything in life that means he deserves to be with her?

“You think about me?” he asks, his hand tight against the back of her neck. He holds her close, but she doesn’t pull back. She ducks her lips to his jaw, his throat, his ear.

“In the shower, when I walk to work, when I choose what music to listen to. I am always thinking about you. There is never a moment when you are not on my mind.”

“Mal,” he moans, and she reaches her hand between them. His dick jolts at the movement before she’s even touched him, and then she does, her palm barely brushing the tip of his cock through his boxers.

“Do you think I could get you off like this?” she asks, like she already knows the answer.

“I’d do anything you wanted.”

“I know,” she says, kissing him again. She pulls back, and honest to God, he might whimper.

“Will you tell me?” she asks, her breath coming like a pant. “If you want to stop, if anything is—if you’re not having a good time. Please, tell me.”

“I’m always have a good time with you,” he whispers, and she smiles into the kiss.

“I know, but promise me anyway.”

“I promise,” he replies, and she finally slips her fingers under his waistband. She shuffles, her brows furrowing, and he remembers that she’s hurt. That if the light was on and he wasn’t so horny he could only see her tits, he would remember that she’s hurt.

“Mal,” he mutters, kissing her again. His hands roam her back, grabbing fistfuls of her arse as he pulls her closer. “Mali. You’re hurt.”

She pouts. “Please.”

“You already got me with your please, baby.”

Mali laughs, slowly moving, reminding him again that she is hurting. She grinds against him. “I’ll just have to be slow.”

“Mal,” he warns, but it’s no use. He’s a weak man in love, and she’s tracing the roof of his mouth with her tongue. He wonders if she is truly a goddess. It would make more sense that way. Her being sent from the heavens just to toy with him, rather than her being a mortal being that wants him in the way she suggests. Zach will have her either way.

“Do you want me to stop?” she asks, her nose brushing against his.

“I don’t want you to be hurt,” he whispers back.

“What about this?” she asks, and she spins on her side, pulling him towards her. “We can’t have sex because I’ve been dreaming about your thighs for years and nothing about it is slow, but I wanna make you feel as good as you make me feel. If you want that.”

“You don’t need to touch me for that,” he whispers.

Her nose bumps his. “Okay,” she replies, kissing him deeply. She manoeuvres his hand until it sits on his waistband. “You do it.”

Zach frowns. “Do what?”

“Touch yourself.”

“Mal,” he says, but his dick pulses.

“I wanna watch you,” she says, and when he leans towards her, she kisses him softly. “Touch yourself for me.” She rolls onto her back, her hand between her legs. Zach can’t move. He simply might have died and gone to heaven; it’s the only way she’s doing this in front of him.

“Fuck, Mali.” He groans, then rolls towards her, half his body against hers as he holds himself up on one arm. She pulls one side of his boxers down, and he realises there’s no reason why he would ever deny her anything, so he slips them off entirely. He wraps his hand around his cock, but his eyes are trained on the way her hand moves between her legs, and he can’t even see anything. The vague movement of her hand, the way her chest pushes together.

He pumps himself, but he misses her. Zach leans closer, his lips against her chest. She pants, and he grips himself tighter.

“You’re so fucking hot. Does it feel good?” he asks, his voice low, just as she slips a finger into her cunt, and she moans loudly down his throat. Zach pulls her leg over his hip as he turns to the side. Their lips meet, but it’s messy. He thinks he really might come if she so much as brushes her skin against his. He tilts her head, and the kiss deepens, all tongue and teeth. His hand knocks hers, and he pumps himself, and he misses the way his fingers feel on her. He misses the way he feels in her hand, and she barely touched him at all.

“Zach,” she whines, as his chest brushes hers.

“Anything. You can have anything. Just tell me— I’ll give you whatever you want.” She wraps her wet hand around his dick. She’s barely gripping him because the angle is off, but it’s still better than anything that’s ever happened to him.

“Jesus,” he curses, as she speeds up. “Mal, I’m gonna come.”

“Wait,” she moans. “Wait for me.” Zach spins until he’s sitting up, and Mali straddles him immediately. His fingers slide into her with ease, and he squeezes his eyes closed. He’s sloppy with his movements, his thumb scrubbing at her clit as he pulls her nipple into his mouth.

“Baby,” he groans. “Baby.”

“I’m so close,” she pants in response. Her nose bumps against his, and when he kisses her, she shakes against his hand. When she moans down his throat, he has no ability to keep himself in check, and he spills into her palm. Zach groans. There are stars in his eyes, and he’s not sure he’s ever come that hard, and she had her hand on him for about forty seconds. He takes a deep breath, holding Mali close.

If this were anyone else, he’d be terrified. He’d be worried about the newspaper articles, about the shame. Mali just kisses him.

“Holy shit,” she pants. “Fuck me, I can barely see.”

Zach laughs, and Mali copies him. She wipes her hand against his stomach and hugs him tight, kissing the juncture of his shoulder. He rests his head against the headboard, his palms sliding down Mali’s back, feeling the light sheen of sweat on her skin. He’s so deliriously happy, so unreasonably gleeful, that he feels insane.

“I need to clean up, but you’re so comfy,” she mutters, and Zach is minded to agree, but he almost gave her a UTI tonight already. He lifts her easily into his arms, and she wraps her legs around his waist. His dick twinges at the feel of her wet cunt against him.

“Zach,” she whispers, shuffling against him.

“Don’t start,” he mutters, placing her on her sink. “Doctor’s orders.”

Mali laughs and pulls him in for a kiss with her hands against his jaw. “’Kay.”

He cleans them up as best he can. Mali giggles when he makes sure the flannel is warm and forces her to pee even though she says the toilet seat is cold. He waits outside her bathroom door for her, and she holds his hand on the ten-step walk back to bed.

There’s no space this time. When he crawls into bed, Mali leans against him like that’s where she’s comfiest. He kisses her once on the lips, then once on the nose.

“Zach,” she whispers, and the kisses have done the trick—she’s basically asleep.

“Baby.”

“I never want you to leave.”