Page 171 of That Rush

“I trust you.”

Her fingers close slowly around the key. She looks down at our hands, and the simple sight of it—her hand in mine, holding the key—tightens my chest. It feels right. She’s here most Fridays, knows where I keep the coffee and which stair creaks. This house should be as open to her as it is to me.

It also means she belongs here even when I am somewhere else.

“I have more to show you,” I say.

Her eyes lift. “More? Aiden, what else have you done?”

I lead her upstairs.

Josie’s bedroom door is closed, and I can hear her explaining office policy to Sprinkle. I take Paige into my room and open the dresser drawer beneath the one holding my T-shirts.

Paige leans around me. “You gave me a drawer?”

“You bring clothes every Friday.”

“I bring one bag.”

“Now you don’t have to.”

I open the closet. I shifted my shirts and jackets to one side and added empty hangers along the other end of the rod. Paige runs one finger over them, her expression caught somewhere between amusement and disbelief.

“How much wardrobe space do you think I require for one night?”

“You can leave whatever you want.”

“I could hang six identical black dresses in here.”

“You own three.”

She looks over at me. “Why do you know that?”

“You wore all of them.”

“Of course you remember my dress inventory.”

“I remember what I took off you.”

Color rises along her throat. “That explains two. You did not take off the third.”

“I intend to.”

Her laugh is quiet as she catches my shirt and pulls me toward her. The kiss begins soft, almost careful. Then her hand slides into my hair, and she presses closer. I wrap an arm around her waist and let her decide how long it lasts.

When she eases away, there’s a bright, unguarded look in her eyes.

“No man has ever made room for me this deliberately,” she says.

The admission settles something deep in my chest. “They should have.”

“I probably wouldn’t have let them.”

“But you’ll let me?”

She studies me before glancing at the drawer again. “I’m holding the key, aren’t I?”

It’s as good as a yes.