Page 63 of Game Plan

My pulse races as Finn’s house comes into view at the end of the cul-de-sac. The heavy wooden front door is open, allowing the lights from inside to glow through the glass. Knowing that Finn is inside with Sunny sets off a warmth blooming in my chest, spreading outward in a slow, steady wave.

I pull into the driveway and park, grabbing my bags out of the back seat. The bag I packed this morning to stay overnight looks vastly different from the bags I put together an hour ago. There was one objective, one point to staying here tonight when I left the house for work. Now? I’m not sure what the night, or the next few days, will look like.

“Hey,” I say, entering the foyer and removing my shoes.

I like to tease Finn by saying you wouldn’t know a bachelor lives here. It’s always so clean, decorated tastefully in soothing creams and grays. And it always smells crisp and fresh. I tell him that I can’t overstay my welcome or I’ll ruin the ambiance with my chaos.

“We’re in here,” Finn calls out from deeper inside the house.

I drop my bags at the base of the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, then continue to the family room. Finn stands at the other end of the kitchen, in the middle, wearing only a pair of sweatpants. Sunny is on his hip, smacking his shoulder and laughing at whatever he’s telling her about something that’s happening outside the window over the sink.

“Hi, guys,” I say, smiling at the scene before me.

Finn turns around. As soon as his gaze lands on me, he heads my way, as if on instinct. I know the feeling.

“Hey, you,” he says, scooping an arm around my waist and tucking me into his other side. I tilt my chin up as he bends down for a kiss.

A sweet, chaste kiss.

Not the one I wanted tonight.

When he pulls back, his amused grin seems to say that he shares the sentiment.

“We’ll figure it out,” he says.

I laugh, stepping out of his embrace and tickling Sunny’s bare feet. “Yeah, we will. How’s Sunny doing?”

“We haven’t said the M or the D words that end in an a,” Finn says warily. “Not sure how much longer that’s going to hold, but fingers crossed. Did you get your stuff brought in or do you need me to go out and get it?”

“I got it. I set it at the foot of the stairs. Wasn’t sure where I should put it.”

He rolls his eyes. “Clearly, your clothes go in my room where you’ll be sleeping—or not sleeping, if I have my way.”

“Say less, Miller.”

He chuckles. “If you want to work from my office, you can put your work things in there. Or work from the couch or bed. Whatever makes you happy.”

Whatever makes you happy.

This isn’t boyfriend behavior. This isn’t the behavior I wanted him to stop to make it easier for me to draw boundaries between us. This is more than that—deeper than that. More intimate than that.

Sharing space. Making room. Welcoming me into the nooks and crannies of his personal life.

He asked me to give him a chance to prove we’re good together, and I agreed. But I thought I could hold on tighter to reality. To every reason the two of us could never be … on the way to this. But with every hour that passes, I slip further into his world. And every inch I slip is another reason to worry.

Except I don’t want to. For the first time, I want to enjoy this for whatever it is.

I want to block out the warning bells and the voices that haunt me in my dreams.

“Pop Pop,” Sunny says, wiggling her fingers. “Want me.”

“You want me?” I ask.

“Want me,” she says, bending over the side of Finn’s arm.

I laugh, taking her from Finn.

“Juice,” she says.