I watched as Hunter and Holden left the school, and I wrapped my arms around myself and smiled. That kiss was still lingering on my mouth, and I was so glad he’d come in to pick his son up today. I couldn’t get enough of him. I felt like I was drunk on Holden, constantly needing more to keep up the feeling. The tips of my fingers tingled as I remembered the way his stubble had felt beneath them. Man, if I could have gone home with him tonight…

“Hey there.” Zoe appeared in the door of the computer room, which I realized was empty except for me as all the kids had been picked up and taken home.

“Oh, hey.” I glanced around at her. “Didn’t realize you were still here.”

“I had to work on those fucking grading curves.” She shook her head. It still felt dissonant to me to hear her swear on school property, even though there was no one under the age of eighteen to keep it PG-13 for. I grinned.

“Yeah, I feel you,” I sighed. “Why do you think I started these after-school things? I want to avoid having to do my actual work.”

“Did it go well today?” she asked. “The computer club?”

“Yeah, I think it did, actually.” I nodded, remembering Hunter and Amelie chatting to each other as they ran some campaign together. It was good to see the two of them interacting, and they seemed to get along well. Maybe they could cultivate that outside of the club tomorrow at school.

“Well, you’re a braver woman than me, taking on more work on top of everything else we have to do,” she said. “I can barely keep up with everything as it is.”

“It’s no trouble.” I waved my hand, and she cocked an eyebrow at me.

“And that wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you get to see your beau every time you do it?” she asked. I grinned at her, holding up my hands in concession.

“All right, maybe you’ve got a point,” I agreed, glancing out the window again to see if they were still there—they were long gone, but my head was still full of Holden.

“Hey, you want to go grab dinner?” she suggested. “I’m starving, and I don’t feel like cooking.”

“The Indian place off Languin Street?” I replied at once. My stomach was growling, and I didn’t have the energy to come up with anything myself when I got home. Besides, I was in the mood to be with people tonight. I would have spent the entire evening lying in bed and thinking about Holden if I didn’t, and no matter how much fun I was having with him, I didn’t want to sour it by letting my brain wander.

“I’m in.” Zoe nodded. “I’ll drive. Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m starved.”

We headed down to the restaurant and got the last table, squeezing into what was meant to be a romantic two-seater at the dim end of the dining area. They lit a candle between us as they delivered our menus, and Zoe laughed.

“Hey, just because I asked you on this date doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay, all right?” She pointed at me seriously.

“Where’s your sense of chivalry?” I teased, and I turned my attention to the menu, my mouth already watering. This was our usual place to come after a long day, and it had never let me down. The food was always excellent.

We ordered a selection to share, as well as a bottle of wine to split between us, and we enjoyed the food for a while, chatting about our days thus far. Then Zoe cocked her head at me, and I knew at once what question was coming next.

“So,” she began, rubbing her hands together. “What’s going on with you and Hunter’s dad?”

“Well,” I smiled, glad to have someone to talk about it with. I didn’t want to gush straight off the bat when nobody had asked about it, but it felt like the only thing I’d been able to wrap my head around in the last couple of days.

“We went out on a date over the weekend—a real one,” I told her. “It was really nice. When he took me out on the yacht a few weeks ago, he asked me what my idea of the perfect date would be, and he pretty much made that happen.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s so romantic.” She clasped her hand to her chest. “What did you do?”

“He took me out for a picnic at this gorgeous park in the center of the city,” I continued. “And then he took me to this old ice cream place on the pier, and we took a walk.”

“Okay, now that’s super cute.” She nodded approvingly. “Since then?”

“Not much.” I shook my head. “We’ve both been busy. But he told me today that whenever I want to see him, he’s free, so I’m going to take him up on that soon enough.”

“Ooh, that sounds so cool.” She clapped her hands together and grabbed a bite of her vegan samosa.

“And we’ve been in touch about what he’s working on at the moment,” I continued with a shake of my head.

“Oh, what’s he putting together?” She furrowed her brow. “He’s a website designer, right?”

“Yeah, but I mentioned to him how much I hate putting together all the grade curve stuff, and he basically suggested that he come up with a program to do it for me,” I explained. “I thought he was kidding around at first, but he told me today that it’s coming along pretty well. He asked me to take a look at it and try it out for him soon.”

“Okay, as soon as he gets that thing up and running, I’m first in line to try it out,” Zoe stabbed her finger in the air decisively. “I can’t believe nobody thought to do that before now. He could make a lot of money off that if he marketed it right.”

“Yeah, he could, but I think he’s only doing it to help me out.”

“Which is pretty damn sweet all by itself,” Zoe finished up for me. “Things sound like they’re going well then.”

“Really well,” I agreed, taking a sip of my wine. I couldn’t tell whether it was the alcohol or talking about Holden that was spreading warmth through my chest, but either way, I would happily take it.

“Can I ask you something?” She cocked her head at me.

“Sure thing.”

“What’s the deal with Hunter’s mom?” she asked, and I wrinkled my nose up.

“You know, I asked him about it on the date, and he seemed pretty… I don’t know, like he didn’t want to talk about it,” I replied. “I know she’s been out of their lives for a while and that he doesn’t consider her involved with them at all.”

“Hmm.” Zoe tapped her fingers on the table.

“What?” I prompted her.

“I mean, she is the boy’s mother,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t trust in her ever being out of the picture for good, would you?”

“I don’t know about that.” I shrugged. “I don’t think she’s been in the picture for much of Hunter’s life, if at all. And I don’t think Holden would lie to me about that.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s lying or anything.” She waved her hand, dismissing the notion at once. “But Hunter’s still got a lot of childhood left, and the mother could roll in whenever to try and get custody. Or Hunter could go looking for her himself. He’s a curious kid, and he’ll start wondering at some point.”

“I suppose you’re right.” I leaned back from the table, my appetite suddenly vanishing.

“Hey, I don’t want to put a downer on anything,” Zoe swiftly jumped in to assure me. “I was just wondering, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, as far as I know, she’s out of the picture for now,” I replied with a hopeful smile. “I have to keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way.”

“I’m sure it will,” Zoe replied, but the seeds of doubt were already sewn in my head. I would have to hope they didn’t have any reason to start sprouting anytime soon.

We finished our dinner together, shifting the conversation to some of the gossip around the teachers at our school, and said our goodbyes outside the restaurant. Zoe dropped me back at the school, and the whole time, everything she had said to me was running around and around in my head.

What if she was right about Hunter’s mother? What if she suddenly decided she wanted to be part of her son’s life again? Or, as Zoe had pointed out, what if Hunter went looking for her? It would complicate what was happening between Holden and me so much, and that wasn’t what I wanted. If she came back into the picture, I would have to take a step back from the two of them and give them some space to figure out what they wanted to be, how they wanted to operate as a family. That conversation had come as a stinging reminder that, no matter how well things were going, there were a whole lot of variables at play with dating a single dad like Holden, variables I didn’t have any control over.

I arrived back at the house still mulling over the conversation and went straight for a shower and climbed into bed. I needed to get some sleep to push those thoughts out of my mind for a while. I didn’t want to get overstressed about something that wasn’t even happening, not when things between Holden and me were going so well.

My phone buzzed on my bedside table where I’d dumped it when I came in, and I reached over to check who was messaging me. Despite everything that had stuck itself in my mind that evening, I smiled when I saw it was Holden.

“Hey. Just wanted to say I’m thinking about you and that kiss, and I can’t wait to see you again—X.”

It was enough to temporarily banish the doubts that had been running through my brain to somewhere I couldn’t get to them, and I bit my lip as I quickly responded.

“Me too. Miss you—X.”

I placed the phone down next to my bed and snuggled down, letting my head sink gratefully into the pillow. It had been a hell of a long day, and I had an early start tomorrow. The most important thing for me was to get some rest and not spend the rest of the evening mulling over things I couldn’t control.