I rested my head on his chest. He smelled good, like the outdoors and a muffin. He was cuddling me like he did his sister, Teddi, all the time. If I wasn’t so freaking discombobulated and tired, I would have loved to take a selfie. And maybe get a shirt made with the picture on it.

I had issues. He was wild to be close to. My heart was beating so hard.

Austin knew I needed hugs—ugh. He was so intuitive.

The Uber pulled over. Austin gave me a quick squeeze before opening the car door and throwing my bag over his shoulder in one swift movement. He held out a hand like I was royalty or dressed for the Oscars or something. I took it and held it still after thanking the driver.

Austin pulled out his phone and led me toward the front door. He tipped the driver on the app and swiped to his key for the building app without letting go of my hand.

Why was he so physical? I was eating it up. I was feeling so safe. Lord, help me, this man was too much.

After the app granted us entry, Austin pulled me along to the elevator. The doors opened immediately.

“Why were you out?” I was realizing he’d appeared so quickly—

he had to have been close by, and not at this building.

“I was partying with friends. Tuesdays can be Saturdays, if you know the right people.” He winked at me.

My ovaries found a way to clap for joy inside me.

“Just a heads-up, though. My roommate and I were fighting—although he was gone when I left earlier, he might be back now. Just ignore him. I pay all the rent, so he gets no say in who comes and goes.”

I nodded, feeling bad for interrupting. “I’m sorry if this is a rough time for me to be here for you.”

“Baby, you’re family. You need help, you get help. No other choices.” The elevator dinged on the tenth floor and Austin reached out a hand to hold the door open. His rings clanked against the metal.

I was grateful to be given this out, but part of my heart kicked rocks because if he and I were family, we weren’t ever going to be kissing buddies.

Austin opened his front door with a code and stepped inside, propping the door open for me to enter behind him. His place was so freaking awesome. He had a very lucrative social media platform, and his apartment was the set for many of his videos and pictures. The furniture was all curves and block colors. Some sharp pieces with black and white were edged in. A wall had all different ring lights and filming equipment hanging on it like art. The whole place had a musky lavender scent that I associated with Austin.