Suddenly, a request to video chat popped up on the screen from Frannie. Reluctantly, I pressed “accept.” Her face appeared on the screen, eyes wide and lips pinched.

“He made me do it!” she said.

I laughed. “What the hell is happening there? Eliza’s going to murder you for talking on your phone at the desk.”

“Eliza’s gone for the night,” she answered.

There was a blur on the screen, and then Avi’s face appeared. He had a wicked smile directed squarely at me. “Have you been talking about me?”

“Are you hijacking Frannie’s phone?”

“If you’re talking about me, I would like to be part of the discussion.”

“That’s not how it works!”

Even through a phone screen, his smile was dangerous.

“I thought Frannie asked a really good question.”

I frowned. “What? When?”

“When she asked if you said yes to our date.”

My eyes widened. “Did you read our texts?”

He chuckled. “I only glanced at them.”

In the background, Frannie said, “Lies! He totally read them!”

“Boundaries, Avi! Boundaries.”

“Is that an American thing? I don’t know that word.”

I growled at him, making him laugh harder.

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait! Are you on the couch in your adorable pajamas?”

I looked down at my favorite plaid flannel PJs. “Maybe.”

“I will be home soon. Stay there.”

“Bossy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You like it.”

“I would never admit it.”

Frannie muttered, “You two need to have sex again already.”

“Frananas!”

She yanked the phone away from Avi. “I have to go rinse my client now. You guys can flirt on your own time.”

Avi shoved his face on the screen again. “See you soon, lovely Laurel.”

Frannie pushed him away. “I’m hanging up now!”

Giggling, I told her goodnight.

It had been two days since our non-date, and I’d really only seen Avi in passing. I’d assumed he’d go to his aunt’s for Shabbat tonight, but it looked like he was coming home instead—mostly likely because he’d been working longer hours taking on Rachel’s clients. I’d planned on spending my evening with Professor X and the rest of the X-Men, and I wasn’t going to change my plans just because he’d be home.

When Avi came home, I was curled up on the couch, wrapped in my favorite fuzzy blanket, watching X-Men: First Class. I paused the movie when he came into view, smiling down at me.

“You look comfortable,” he said.

I rubbed the blanket against my cheek. “I’m having a wild Friday night.”

His eyes were soft as they traveled over me. “I’m going to go change, and then I’ll join your party—if I’m invited.”

I smiled. “Usually it’s no boys allowed, but I’ll make an exception. I’m watching X-Men, though. I know that’s not your jam. We can watch something else.”

He rubbed his chest and gave me the sweetest smile. “I’ll try it. Maybe with you, I’ll like it.”

While he went downstairs to change, I ventured into the kitchen to make popcorn and grab a beer. As I stood there waiting, Avi came up behind me and circled his arms around my waist. I tipped my head back to look up at him, and he leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

I turned in his arms so I could see him right side up. “Hey, yourself. I haven’t seen you very much.”

He kissed me again, just as softly. “I’m trying to remain mysterious.”

“Are we people who kiss each other whenever we want now?”

He kissed me again, this time with a smile curving his lips. “I’m very friendly.”

I scoffed. “No you’re not. You’re very prickly.”

He rested his forehead on mine. “We call that sabra. It means cactus. But I think I’ve been really friendly with you.”

“Maybe…”

The microwave beeped, and I stepped away from him. I honestly hadn’t expected him to come home and be so affectionate. He’d surprised me, and I didn’t quite know what to make of it. I enjoyed him touching me. God, I loved it. But neither of our circumstances had changed. As much as I wanted to see where this went, I knew I shouldn’t.

But when he had his arms around me, it felt like maybe we could do this. Maybe it didn’t matter that I’d made shitty choices in the past or that he’d had his heart trampled on by a woman who made very similar shitty choices.

“I’m surprised you’re making popcorn in the microwave. Don’t you have a recipe for homemade or something?”

I chuckled as I dumped the steaming popcorn into a bowl. “Nothing can replace the deliciousness of fake butter. Nothing.”

“I...don’t think I can argue with that.”

We settled on the couch, and I wrapped my blankets around my legs, mummifying myself. After I set the bowl between us, I started rewinding the movie.

“You don’t have to start it over for me,” he said before grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“I want you to enjoy it! You can’t do that if we start in the middle.”

Leaning his head back on the couch cushion, he looked over at me, his eyes taking in my face. “Tell me what I’m going to watch.”

Rubbing my hands together excitedly, I shifted to face him. “Well, you know the X-Men movie franchise is my favorite. It’s my secret fantasy that I’m a mutant, but my powers are still lying dormant. They’re coming though, I can feel it.”

“What do you think your power is?”

I popped a piece of popcorn in my mouth and pretended to contemplate his question like I hadn’t planned this out in my mind years ago. “Knowing my luck, I’d end up like Rogue and not be able to touch anyone else without killing them.”

Avi skimmed his fingertips over my hand. “Nope, not Rogue.”

I shivered from his touch, but tried to cover my reaction with a joke. “Not yet! But watch out. One day you might touch me and I’ll leech all your powers.”

He picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. “It seems worth it, though.”

I swooned internally. It would be so, so easy to fall for this man. He certainly didn’t make it easy to resist him. Did he want me falling for him?

I gently extracted my hand from his. “I haven’t told you the superpower I hope I have.”

He edged slightly closer so there was only half a cushion between us. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

“I would be able to manipulate time.”

He nodded. “Like time travel?”

“No, not time travel. I’d want to be able to stop time. Not for long, maybe a minute or two. Just enough time to stop an accident or disarm a killer or pull someone back from the edge. Or just to savor the perfect moment.”

“So, not quite selfless?”

I grinned. “I’d mostly use my powers for good. But yeah, if I’m going to be a mutant—and knowing my luck, I’d probably turn green or grow hair on my back—I’ll probably take advantage of my own powers.”

“I think that is a very good power. Have you ever had a moment you wanted to freeze?”

“Not yet. Maybe someday.” I chewed on a piece of popcorn. “What about you? What would your mutant power be?”

“I don’t think I can do better than yours.”

I pushed his shoulder. “Come on! Just say something! Would you fly? Become invisible?”

He breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled. “I would make people really see each other. Not who they think the other person is, but who they really are.” He shook his head. “I don’t even know if that makes sense.”

My heart swelled. Who is this guy? Every time I thought I had a handle on him, he revealed another layer, something deeper. And my crush was morphing into something else, something much deeper too.

“I think if we all really saw each other, the world would be a completely different place. I like that, Avi.”

He sighed again. “Enough of this serious talk. Let’s watch your movie.”

“You sure?”

“Do you like this?”

“Love it.”

He squeezed my hand. “Then yes, I’m sure.”

I turned on the movie, and for the first half, I spent most of the time watching Avi’s reaction. When I saw that he seemed to be enjoying it, I finally relaxed, lying on my side. At some point, he pulled my feet onto his lap and rested his hands on my calves.

As Magneto fought against Sebastian Shaw, Avi slid my thick socks off and rubbed my feet. He dug his thumbs into the soles, making my eyes roll back and my breath come faster.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He hummed. “I can’t resist your little troll feet.”

I wiggled my toes at him. “You’re welcome to do whatever the hell you’re doing anytime you want. That feels so good.”

He lifted the blanket off my feet and held one up to his face. Before I could take my next breath, he ran his tongue along the inner arch of my foot.

I gasped. “Avi…”

He nibbled along the same path his tongue had taken, and I dissolved into a million pieces. He picked up my other foot and gave it the same treatment. I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t think. Apparently, my feet were connected directly to my vagina. I was wet and achy between my legs.

He met my eyes as he ran his hands up my calves, going inside my pajama pants.

“I want you,” he said.

How could I say no to that? It was a bold, simple statement, yet it had undeniable power over me. Once he’d touched his tongue to my foot, I would have done anything he said. He seemed to have that effect on me.

“I want you too.”