Page 235 of That Rush

Aiden glances back. “I can hear you.”

“Then your hearing is improving too.”

His gaze touches my mouth before dropping to the blue paper star stuck near the hem of my dress. The heat in his eyes has nothing to do with libraries or personal growth.

Commitment hasn’t made him less interested; it’s sharpened his focus. There’s a new confidence in his gaze, a possessiveness that isn’t about ownership, but about a promise he intends to spend years keeping. A promise of benefits I’m just beginning to understand.

Josie takes my hand and pulls me toward a girl from her class.

“This is Paige,” she says.

The girl nods. “I know. She does story time.”

“She’s also my dad’s girlfriend.”

A breath catches in my throat. The simple pride in Josie’s voice is a physical thing, warm and sudden.

Her friend’s gaze bounces between Aiden and me, calculating. “Does that mean you live at her house?”

“No,” Josie says. “She has a cabin and a private library, and she comes every Friday.”

An impressively accurate summary.

The girl accepts it and asks whether the dragon sticker glows in the dark. Josie releases me to begin an investigation.

Aiden stops beside me. “You okay?”

“I am.”

He studies my face anyway. “She announced that loudly.”

“She’s six. Every announcement is loud.”

His hand settles at my waist. “Girlfriend?”

I look toward Josie, who is holding her sticker beneath a table to test the glow.

“I chose it.”

Aiden bends and kisses me, brief enough for the library and warm enough to send a shiver all the way to my feet.

A little boy nearby says, “Ew.”

“Appropriate public response,” I tell him.

Aiden smiles against my temple before returning to the last stack of chairs.

Over the next half hour, the celebration thins out. Families leave with certificates, prizes, and more sugar than anyone should consume before dinner. When the final patron walks out, I lock the front door and turn toward the happy mess.

Josie is arranging her completed reading map inside a protective folder. Aiden waits beside her instead of beginning cleanup without me.

I survey the tables and leftover cupcakes, but my gaze settles on the two people I want more time with.

Then I make a plan.

“Text your parents,” I tell Aiden. “Axel and Sadie too. Adrienne, Scotty, and the kids.”

His eyebrows lift. “Everyone?”