Page 98 of The Sweetest Return

The little screen above the door said eleven.

For a second, neither of us spoke.

Then she dropped her forehead against my chest and started laughing under her breath.

I closed my eyes. “Damn.”

“We missed my floor.”

“We missed it badly.”

The doors started to close, and I reached out fast enough to catch them before some poor person came around the corner and found us standing there looking guilty as hell.

Imani stepped back first, smoothing her top with hands that were not as steady as she wanted them to be. Her lips were swollen. Her braids were mussed near her temple. Her eyes were bright and dark at the same time, and looking at her like that made me want to press the button for my floor instead.

I did not.

I pressed eight again.

The doors closed.

This time, I stood beside her instead of in front of her. Our shoulders touched. Neither one of us moved away. Her hand found mine somewhere between eleven and eight, and our fingers locked like we needed the help.

When the elevator opened on her floor, we stepped out quietly.

The hallway felt too soft after the heat of that elevator. Thick carpet. Low lights. The faint scent of flowers from some arrangement near the end of the corridor. I walked her to her door with my hand at her back, both of us moving slower than necessary.

At her room, she swiped the key and turned toward me.

For a moment, we stood there with the door unlocked and the whole night waiting to see which one of us would be foolish first.

I wanted to go in.

She wanted me to.

That was all over her face, in her swollen mouth, in the way her fingers still held the edge of my hoodie like she had forgotten to let go.

I touched her jaw.

This kiss was different. Slow. Soft.

The kind that asked for more by refusing to take it. Her mouth opened under mine, and I kissed her like I had all the time in the world even though my body was still arguing hard for the opposite.

When I pulled back, her eyes stayed on mine.

“Get some rest, Mani.”

Her mouth curved a little, disappointment and heat sitting together. “You too.”

Neither one of us believed that.

My thumb moved once along her cheek before I made myself let her go.

She went inside while I waited until the door closed. Then I stood there for a second with my hands on my hips, staring at the carpet like it had personally offended me.

I regretted not following her. I was pretty sure she regretted not asking me to.

Still, tonight felt like the right call.