Kael was parked in the back of the spa when I got off work the next day, his huge Bronco dripping water from its massive body. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with his company’s name printed on the front and blue jeans with frayed bottoms, as if he had worn them for years. I wanted to touch the soft, worn denim and feel the thread of the fabric against my fingertips.

“What are you doing here? How did you know when I would be off?” I was surprised to see him waiting with a freshly washed truck. Surprised, but thrilled.

“A little birdie told me,” he said, pulling his sunglasses off his eyes and opening the passenger door for me.

“Does that little birdie happen to have an adorable French accent?” I asked.

He shrugged. “That’s confidential,” he said with a straight face. I could see a little gleam in his eye. How was it possible that I missed him so much when he had stayed at my house until almost midnight, leaving right before Elodie got home? I didn’t know if I could hide Kael’s visit from her if she so much as mentioned his name. Even if I told her the minimum, that he was at the house, she would want something, a little snippet of gossip, a morsel of a taste of my personal life, but unfortunately for her, I didn’t kiss and tell. Oh, god, the kiss. It made my cheeks glow, my heart sink and float, sink and float.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Kael again. I was hesitant to climb into his truck, not knowing exactly where things stood with us.

“I came to hopefully get you to go on a date with me.”

“A date? I thought we said we weren’t going on dates, that we were just going to hang out until your discharge? We seem to keep doing the opposite of that.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood there, next to the open door.

“I disagree. We’re technically hanging out.” He shrugged. It was hard to argue with him when he looked this relaxed, this innocent and playful. I knew if I went with him, I’d have a great time.

“Semantics,” I argued.

“Maybe, but would you like to hang out with me tonight, since you don’t work until eleven tomorrow?”