Her eyes widen in surprise. “Okay,” she squeaks, sitting up higher. “Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to make you some… I don’t know… warm milk or something? That used to help me when I had nightmares. I know it’s not the same—”

I shift to the side, cutting her off, and place my hands on the counter either side of her. Tilting my head, I ask, “Warm milk?”

She nods quickly. Then, somehow, her eyes get even wider. “Oh, I know!” She raises her finger between us. “Wait here, okay?” She’s smiling. I don’t know why she’s smiling but I love her smile and her need to resolve my pain makes me love her more.

She shoves my chest gently, moving me out the way. “Just wait,” she rushes out, her bare legs moving quickly as she exits the room.

She takes the pillows from the bed, as well as all of the blankets and takes them somewhere out of my vision. Doors open. Doors close. Her feet shuffle across the floor moving around the house. And I wait in the bathroom like she told me to.

“Okay,” she calls out. “You can come out now.”

With heavy steps, I walk out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. She’s sitting against the wall between both rooms, blankets and cushions surrounding her. She taps her lap, her smile soft when she says, “Lie down. Head here.”

My grin is instant. So is the overwhelming calm that washes over me. I lie down on my back, my head on her lap, her hands in my hair as she continues to smile down at me. “Remember this?” she asks.

My eyes drift shut. “I’ll never forget this.”

“You said you liked it.”

“I do.”

“You almost fell asleep when I did it so I thought…”

“You take such good care of me, Ry,” I tell her honestly.

“Really?”

“Swear.”

Her smile widens.

“Tell me something, Riley.”

“Something?”

“Anything. I love your voice. It’s the thing I missed the most while I was deployed. I mean, besides your body. And your cooking.”

She laughs quietly. “So Mom has a date with Dr. Matthews tomorrow. Or tonight, I should say.”

“No shit?”

“Yep. She’s really nervous.”

“Believe me,” I tell her. “He’s worse. I’m surprised he had the balls to ask her.”

“He didn’t. She asked him.”

“That’s awesome.”

“Oh! And apparently when we were gone Eric wouldn’t shut up about you getting a truck and him getting a card so your dad called him out and told everyone that he started wetting the bed again when you were born. He kept thinking you would crawl into his room at night and stab him in his sleep.”

I sit up slightly. “Shut up!”

She draws a cross on her chest. “Swear it. He used to call you Devil Baby.”

“No way.”

Riley nods. “So I was thinking we go over there and find a photo of you as a baby and make a cardboard mask that you can wear when you sneak into his room one night with a fake knife and just chant—” her voice deepens, “—Devil baby! Devil baby!”

I sit up completely, pushing her hands away. “Riley.”

“What?” she asks, her hands mid air.

“How the fuck did I land you?”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re kind of hot, Banks. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

She shrugs and pats her lap again.

I lie back down.

With a single finger, she starts to trace around all of my features, her eyes locked on mine. “You know when we did this the first time…” She runs her finger across my lips. “I noticed your smile.”

I kiss her finger. “My smile?”

“Yeah. It tilts higher on the right than the left.”

“It does?”

She nods.

I get more comfortable. “All I remember was wanting to kiss you. Bad. Really fucking bad.”

“I know. You asked me if I wanted you to,” she says, her voice low.

“And you lied,” I tell her.

She nods. “I was so scared.”

“I know.”

“I’m not scared of you anymore, Dylan.”

Momentarily, I wonder if she means being with me or me in general. Then I realize I don’t care. “No?”

“Not at all,” she says, shaking her head. Then she smiles. “Hey Dylan?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want me to kiss you right now?”

“Hudson. I want you to more than fucking kiss me right now.”

She giggles. “Oh yeah?”

“You know what I saw when I came home tonight?”

She leans back, her brows bunched. “What?”

“You left the flat iron on.”

Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens. Nothing comes out.

I arch an eyebrow. “You know what that means?”

She starts to undo the buttons of her shirt.

Ten minutes later, we’re naked, rolling around on the floor surrounded by cushions. Our hands, our mouths, our tongues exploring every single inch of each other’s bodies. A few minutes after that, she’s on top of me, her hands flat on my stomach, her hips thrusting, moving me in and out of her. She’s so warm, so wet, so damn perfect. Her back arches, her head tilted back causing her loose hair to tickle my thighs. “Dylan, I’m so fucking close,” she whispers, her movements getting faster.