Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mick

The moment Lina walked in, I told myself to stay calm.

Act normal.

Act like nothing happened last night.

But it was hard.Really hard.Because she was right there. Walking toward me. Looking like that.My eyes followed her before I even decided to look. My body felt warm in a way I couldn't control. And all I could think about was pulling her close. Pressing her gently against the wall. Kissing her so hard without holding back,Without pretending,But I couldn't do that.Not here.Not with everyone watching.

As she got closer, the memories hit me all at once. The way she looked at me last night.

The soft way she said my name.The way her arms held onto me…like letting go was not something she wanted to do.A small smile started to form on my lips.I quickly looked away. Took a slow breath. Pulled myself back together.

Because this morning… when I woke up with her beside me,her head resting close to mine,her body warm against my arm…I thought I was still dreaming.For years, I had thought about her like this. Alone at night, staring at the ceiling, whispering her name while I touched myself. Imagining what it would feel like to hold her. And now it had happened.I left early so she wouldn't feel embarrassed when she opened her eyes and found me there. I didn't want to make things strange between us. I thought distance would help.But then Millie walked her straight to me. Smiling. Completely unaware of what she was doing to me.

"Hi…"Lina's voice was quiet. Gentle. It pulled me out of my thoughts like a soft hand on my shoulder.I looked at her.Her head was slightly down. Her lips pressed together the way they always did when she was nervous. Her fingers were still near her sides, like she wasn't sure what to do with them.

God.

She was so cute it hurt.

"Hey, princess," I whispered. Low enough that only she could hear.Her eyes went wide immediately.She looked up at me fast,surprised, like she hadn't expected that word from my mouth.And just like that, our eyes met.Something moved in my chest. Quick and sharp.I held her gaze a second longer than I should have. I watched her breathing shift,slower, then slightly heavier. Her eyes weren't the same as they used to be.Something had changed in them.Something warm. Something deep.Something I recognized very well, because I had been carrying the same thing inside me for a long time.I clenched my jaw and looked away.

I hated this.I hated needing to control myself around her. I hated pretending. Because if I stopped pretending, even for one moment, I knew exactly where things would go.

Dinner was surprisingly normal.Too normal.

We all sat around the table talking and laughing like it was any other evening. Like Lina and I hadn't shared something the night before that changed everything,at least for me.My dad asked her questions about work. About her life. About what she had been doing lately.Then he asked about her love life.

The table went quiet for half a second.

Lina stopped. Just slightly. The kind of pause that only someone paying close attention would notice.Then she turned and looked at me.Her lips curved into a small, shy smile.

My chest felt tight. Like something was squeezing it gently from the inside.I looked away. Picked up my glass. Pretended I hadn't seen it.Everyone laughed it off and focused on dinner.

Later that night, Millie decided Lina should stay.”It's too late to leave," she said. "And you didn't bring your car."Lina nodded and agreed without much argument.She had stayed here before. Many times. This house was familiar to her. Comfortable.But tonight, nothing felt familiar.Everything felt different,Heavier. Charged with something I couldn't name out loud.

By midnight, the house was still and quiet.

Millie and Lina had gone upstairs. I could hear the soft sounds of the house settling,the kind of quiet that makes your own thoughts too loud.I stayed in the living room, a folder of work files open on the table in front of me. My secretary had been calling since morning, worried about deadlines from the Australia project. Important things. Things that needed my attention.But my attention kept slipping.

Back to her,back to the way she smiled at dinner. The way her eyes found mine before she could stop them.I ran my hand through my hair and stared at the papers without really reading them.Then I heard a soft footsteps coming from upstairs.I lifted my head slowly.

And there she was.

Lina.Coming down the stairs one step at a time, her hand light on the railing. She was wearing one of Millie's shorts,the loose ones Millie wore around the house all the time. I had seen those shorts a hundred times before.

But not on her.On her, they looked different.

She looked different.Something warm spread through my body without permission. I cleared my throat quietly and shifted in my seat, forcing my face into something calm and neutral.She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up.She froze when she saw me.

Her mouth opened slightly, then closed. Like she had walked into something she wasn't prepared for.She walked toward me slowly, her eyes mostly on the floor.

"Are you still working?" she asked.

Her voice was soft. A little careful. Like she was trying to keep things light and easy between us.I smiled without meaning to. It just happened.

"Mm," I said.

I stood up from my chair and leaned back against the edge of the table. My body facing hers. Close enough that I could feel the space between us,feel how small it was.

"Why are you still up, sunshine?"The word slipped out naturally,She blinked fast.Then looked away.That familiar shyness. That quiet softness that had always been part of her. Some things hadn't changed.

"I… I came down for water," she said. Her voice broke just slightly on the last word.

"Okay," I replied simply,Just that. One word.But neither of us moved.She stayed where she was. I stayed where I was.

The room felt smaller than before. The quiet pressed in around us, thick and warm. I could hear her breathing. I could feel mine slowing down, going deeper, like my body was trying to stay calm while everything else inside me was not.My heart was beating hard now.

Hers too, I thought. I could almost feel it.

She opened her mouth again. Trying to say something. Trying to fill the silence before it said something for us.

"Uhm… about last night, I…"She stopped.

The words disappeared before they arrived.

Her eyes dropped. Her fingers moved slightly…a small nervous movement near her side.She couldn't finish.And honestly, I didn't want her to.Because if she said it out loud,if she named it, explained it, wrapped it in careful words, it would become something we had to decide about. Something we could ruin by thinking too much.I didn't want to think.I stepped closer.

Just one small step. Quiet,Slow.

My hand moved on its own,reaching up, touching her face gently. My thumb brushed her cheek, soft as a question.

And then, before my mind could talk me out of it…My lips found hers.Soft,Careful. Like I was asking without words.Is this okay? Are you okay with this?She didn't pull away.She stayed.Still and warm and close.

That was my answer.I kissed her deeper. Slowly. My arm moving around her, pulling her toward me,not roughly, but like I had been waiting too long and could finally stop pretending I hadn't.She responded.

Her fingers found my shirt and held on. Not pulling me closer, not pushing me away. Just holding. Like she needed something solid to keep her steady.I understood that feeling completely.When I finally pulled back, our foreheads almost touched. My breath came out uneven. My heart was still loud in my ears.

I looked at her face. Really looked.

Her eyes were closed for a moment. Then they opened slowly, finding mine.

"So…" I whispered. My voice came out lower than I intended.

"Was that a mistake too?"I watched her.

Waited.Because this time, I wasn't walking away before she could answer.This time, I needed to know.