This man is here for me without question just like I am for him. That’s never been more apparent than it is right now. He grins, and tonight, it’s not so perfect, slightly lopsided in his smirk, but it’s perfect to me.

He meets me on the path and takes my bag in one hand and my hand in his other. “Good day?”

I debate if I should lay my troubles on him the minute we’re together again. He’s so happy that I don’t want to ruin his mood. He opens the car door and puts the bag in the back. I’m not always one for silence, so he looks at me and asks, “Everything okay?”

I bite the inside of my cheek. I have so much to be happy about, including finally going to his apartment tonight. I won’t let her ruin this for me. Whatever she’s upset about, we’ll get to the bottom of it and work it out some other time.

I’ll put on a happy face because Harbor deserves nothing less. “I’m good.” I slip into the car.

When he gets in, he reaches over, resting his hand on my leg. “Hungry?”

“No. I had pizza earlier.”

There’s a hint of nervousness hanging in the air, his gaze volleying between me and the road. “I went to the store and got a few things. So if you’re hungry—”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I don’t have people over very often.”

He starts driving again, always so careful when I’m in the car. I’ve been on dates when they didn’t even care if I wore a seat belt. But here’s Harbor barely driving the speed limit when I’m with him. I’m starting to believe it’s another way he shows me how he cares about me. “Why is that?”

I’m answered with a shrug while he messes with the heater at a stop sign. But my emotions aren’t fully back in check after the fight with Amanda yet, and the warm fuzzies I get from being with Harbor can’t cover the insecurities that have begun to shadow my patience tonight. I’m so conflicted, also not wanting to make him feel interrogated with no escape. “I’ve never seen the place. I don’t even know where you live.”

“Yeah.” The shyest smile lies on his face, and he runs his thumb over his bottom lip. “I have no good excuse other than I didn’t want my secret revealed.”

“You have a secret?”

Rolling his palms over the steering wheel, he begins to laugh. “I have a feeling it won’t surprise you.”

Not sure what to think, I ask, “What won’t surprise me?”

“I’m messy.” One hand goes into the air as he laughs. “I spent an hour getting it clean again. Between me rarely being home lately and Noah hanging around more than usual, it was like a fucking bomb went off in there.”

To say I’m relieved is an understatement. He’s messy . . . That’s all it is. Not some life-shattering news. I start laughing, mainly at myself for overthinking this. “I can be messy sometimes, too. My dad had to learn the skill of cleaning over the years. So I get it, especially with things like school and the applications getting in the way.”