When I wake up, Wren’s no longer draped over my chest. When we fell asleep, she was pressed so close to me that I couldn’t tell where she stopped and I started. My chest was still damp with her tears, and her wet lashes swooped across my naked skin. Being that close to her was its own special kind of torture—the absolute best kind.

I’ve wanted Wren to open up to me for so long. And to be quite honest, now that she laid an apology on the table and gave me some hope, I have no fucking idea what to do with it. All I know is that I want more Wren. I want everything. And if that makes me a greedy bastard, so be it.

I quickly find a clean shirt and pull it over my head. Then I brush my teeth and step into the hallway. I kind of think Wren and I need to have a conversation. We need to have a conversation that’s not mired in hurt and stuck in the past. We need to have a talk about this friendship we’re building. I feel like I need to tell her how very much I’m enjoying being her BFF. And if that’s all we ever are, I’ll be okay with that, because I’m finding that I like Wren as a friend. And my parents always said that’s the first step toward falling in love.

Slow and steady wins the race.

I start down the hallway, intending to knock on her door, when I hear a laugh from the living room. I turn the corner and find Wren standing on one foot on a throw pillow from the couch. She has Chase clutched in her arms, and she weaves and bobs dramatically, pretending like she could fall off the pillow at any moment.

I stop and hitch my shoulder against the doorjamb, and just stare at her. She’s wearing those damn pajama shorts and a long t-shirt, and even more beautiful than that is the smile that’s on her face. Her grin must be contagious, because Anna and Devon have the same bright smiles on their faces.

Anna, the eight-year-old, spies me standing in the doorway and yells, “Watch out, Mick! The floor is made of lava!”

I gasp and pretend to be nervous. “Oh, no!” I cry. “What are we going to do?”

“We have to save Wren!” Devon shouts. “She’s stranded out there!” Anna and Devon are both perched like birds on the back of the sofa, out of harm’s way.

“Someone help me!” Wren cries quietly, her voice much softer than the kids’. She winks at me, and fuck if my heart doesn’t flip over.

“I’ll save you!” I shout, putting on my best superhero face.

“Get her, Mick!” Devon shouts. “You can’t let her die!”

“Never fear, Mick is here!” I shout.

Wren snorts out a laugh, and then she covers her mouth and laughs a little louder because she’s embarrassed.

“What was that?” I ask. “The mating call of a distressed damsel?”

She snorts again, which just makes her laugh even louder.

“Throw me a pillow,” I call to Anna. She lifts one of the couch cushions and tosses it to me. I catch it and drop it down in front of my feet, and then hop onto it like I’m hopping onto a flying carpet. “One more,” I say. Devon tosses me a second one. I step on that one, pick up the first one they threw, and exchange them until I’m standing in front of Wren. “I’m here to save you,” I say to her.

She freezes and looks into my eyes. “What if I don’t need saving?” she asks softly, but a smile still plays around her mouth.

“Then you can save me instead.” I pretend to flounder on my square of couch cushion, and Wren reaches out to catch me.

Anna and Devon are screaming with laughter by this point, and Wren and I jump from cushion to cushion as we move toward the couch. When we’re close enough, I take Chase from Wren’s arms and hold him out to Anna. “Here, hold this,” I say. “I have a beautiful woman to save.”

Anna sits down with Chase in her lap, a smile on her face bigger than any I have ever seen. “You still have to save her, Mick!” Anna cries.

“You heard her, Wren,” I say with a shrug. “I have to save you.”

I scoop her up in my arms and turn toward the couch. She squeals as I swing her through the air. But right before I’m close enough to deposit her beside Anna, my toe catches on the edge of a couch cushion and I find myself falling toward the floor. I roll, so that she lands safely on a cushion and I land softly on top of her. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t my intention at all.”

“What wasn’t?” Wren says, her thighs cradling my lower body as she stares up at me.

“My throwing you on the floor and landing on top of you. I didn’t plan that at all.”

“Yeah, sure you didn’t,” she says, and she playfully shoves my shoulder.

“Is she safe?” Anna asks breathlessly from the couch.

Wren lifts her head and looks over my shoulder. “I’m safe. No thanks to clumsy superheroes.”

“You should totally kiss her,” Anna says with a giggle.

“Ew,” Devon says. “That’s gross. Why should he have to kiss her? He just saved her life.”

“That’s what heroes do!” Anna argues. “They kiss the girls.”

“I’m pretty sure they don’t just lie on top of them after they save them,” a deep male voice calls from the kitchen doorway. I look up to find Wren’s father, Emilio, staring down at me as I lie cradled between Wren’s thighs.

“When did he get here?” I whisper to Wren.

“About twenty minutes ago,” she whispers back.

Emilio loudly clears his throat. “You should probably get off the damsel now.”

Do I have to? “Yes, sir,” I say as I push myself to my feet. I hold out a hand to Wren and pull her up too. As she gets to her feet, she falls against me and says very quietly next to my ear, “I kind of agreed with Anna.”

“About what?” I ask, still a little sideways from having Emilio catch me on top of his daughter.

“About the kiss.” She glances shyly away, like she just realized she said too much.

“Can I get a raincheck?” I ask, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

“That would be nice,” she says, and her eyes finally meet mine.

A jolt of electricity slips up my spine. I grin at her, and take Chase from Anna. “Good morning to you,” I say, and he kicks his chubby little legs in the air.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Emilio says to me. “So glad you could join us. After you put your morning wood away, you should join us for breakfast.”

I jerk my thumb toward the hallway. “I’m just going to get some jeans.”

“Maybe a cold shower wouldn’t hurt.” Emilio glares at me until warmth creeps up my face.

“Be right back.”

I walk down the hallway and into my room, wondering how the fuck Wren’s father just turned me into a twelve-year-old with one glance.