She giggled into the phone, and my heart damn near skipped a beat. She could argue with me all she wanted, but every single word I’d just said was true. She was perfection. “Why are you harassing me on the phone at work?” she asked. “Did you get bored waiting for me at my place?”

“Ah…if only that were the case. No, I accidentally ran into…well, let’s just say Anna and Griffin are on a date, and it’s going really well. It could be over by now, or it could be one of those marathon things that never seems to end. Either way, you’re gonna want to come to my place tonight.”

“Ugh, yeah, okay. Thanks for the heads up.”

“Not a problem. Whatever I can do to spare you from witnessing what I was…too unfortunate to not miss.” Griffin’s face flashed in my head. Yep, definitely stuck there for a long time.

Kiera laughed, then slowly said, “Wait, you witnessed stuff? Where were they?”

Chewing on my lip, I took a moment to answer her. “It’s best if you don’t know. Trust me.”

She let out a long sigh but didn’t press me for details. I was happy she didn’t. She’d never sit on the couch again if she knew.

Kiera and I said our goodbyes, then I got to work on my romantic preparations. When I was done, I waited for Kiera to arrive with an almost impatient sense of expectation. It felt like it took forever for the clock to move forward. Why did time have to move so slowly when you were waiting for something amazing to happen? And move so quickly once you were enjoying that amazing thing? That just wasn’t fair.

When I finally heard Denny’s clunky car pull into the driveway, I could barely contain my excitement. As Kiera shut off the engine, I started lighting my strategically placed candles—there were several of them, all over my room. I was just finishing up when I heard her knock on the front door. Smiling, I ignored the soft sound and poured Kiera a glass of wine. There was one more quiet knock, and then Kiera seemed to remember that she had a key now. My grin was huge as I listened to her turning the lock. Such a beautiful sound.

“Kellan? Did you fall asleep?” Kiera asked as she shut the front door.

Staying still and silent, I didn’t answer her. I felt like my jaw was going to crack I was smiling so hard. Inhaling a deep breath, I calmed my features. I could hear Kiera coming up the steps now, and I turned to face my closed bedroom door. “Kellan?” she was saying. “You’re not going to jump out and scare me, are you? Because I really hate that.”