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“Is he staying the night?”

I choked on absolutely nothing. “No. Obviously not.”

Jess raised an eyebrow.

“This is dinner,” I added. “Not a sleepover.”

Jess smirked. “Shame.”

“That was you hoovering in your room before, wasn’t it?” Maya’s eyes danced with amusement.

“That was routine maintenance.”

Sam snorted.

I glared at Maya and pointed to the kitchen. “Go cook something.” Then I fired a look at Sam. “And you? Go argue with your laptop.”

Jess grinned. “Don’t worry. If he stays, we’ll pretend not to notice.”

I escaped to the bathroom.

I leaned on the wash basin and stared at my reflection. It’s just dinner. Except that had been the truth when Sam had first suggested it. Now?

This felt way bigger than dinner.

I’d met Max’s family—well, his found family. We’d laughed, joked, teased… And somewhere along the way I’d realised I wanted him in my world.

Which meant tonight mattered.

I squared my shoulders. “You can do this.” I washed my hands for what had to be the fourth time. When I reached for the towel, I caught sight of the spare toothbrush in the cup on the shelf. I stared at it for a moment, then straightened it.

Just in case.

Not that he was staying.

Obviously.

This totally wasn’t me planning for anything.

The doorbell rang as I stepped out of the bathroom, and my stomach flipped.

“That’ll be your terrifying, impressive, extremely hot Dom,” Jess called out.

I automatically straightened my shirt.

Sam noticed and smirked. “Relax. He’s already into you.” He peered at me. “Breathe.”

“I am breathing,” I ground out.

He rolled his eyes. “Let me get this. You look as if you’re about to interrogate a suspect.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he was already at the door.

“Too late to run now,” Jess said in a loud stage whisper from the living room.

Oh fuck, I am so screwed.

Max