After having an uninterrupted night with Kael, I wanted a thousand more. I wished we could stay in my bed for a week straight. I tried to savor every second we had, to make sure I would have something lasting to hang on to when he wasn’t around. When my thoughts started to spiral again, I began to count the number of times Kael breathed in a minute. I pressed my hand against his chest the way I did once before, so I could feel his heart beating. His tongue made a line from the base of my throat and back up to my lips.

I groaned as he gently opened my mouth with his and kissed me again. I lost count of them; each one was somehow better than the last. It could have been minutes or hours before he gently pulled away from my mouth and kissed my forehead.

I ran through the endearing things I’d learned about him last night. He can’t stand the sound of trains and loves hard candy but has never had a cavity in his life. That the only toothpaste he uses is cinnamon—not only does he hate the smell of peppermint, which I knew, but also the taste. He doesn’t like sports, and has never watched an entire football game start to end. His favorite season is winter. Kael opened up like a thousand novels written just for me, and I longed for the chance to read them all.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Kael kissed against my neck.

“That you’re a library.”

“A library? Is that a good thing?”

I nodded and he turned onto his side to face me, wrapping both of his arms around me and pulling me close to his chest. He gently stroked my hair, and my heart exploded from the sweetness of it. I couldn’t keep my eyes open long when his fingers started to rub my scalp in back-and-forth motions, right above my hairline, the exact same way my mother used to do. Her fingers would circle my head until it prickled and went numb, helping me fall asleep.

“What are your plans for today?” Kael asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Nothing, actually.” I couldn’t see Kael’s face because my head was on his chest. His fingers were rubbing my head, creating that calm numbing sensation that was my favorite part. It was such an intimate feeling that I hadn’t felt since my mom left. I started to tell him that, but he spoke first.

“If you’re up for it, I wanted to show you my place. I don’t have PT or any appointments today. The duplex is a complete mess and in the middle of being renovated, but I wanted to take you there.” He sounded shy by the time he finished.

I couldn’t hide the excitement in my voice. “You do?”