Chapter 34. I'm Like Air, Baby

Rae:

I pause at the threshold.

Eliza is sitting on the counter, legs swinging slightly, hair damp and wild from a rushed shower. Kieran stands in front of her, shirt half-buttoned and misaligned, animatedly retelling something with a grin that could charm a nun into sin.

“You should’ve seen me,” he’s saying. “This guy, twice my size, swung at me, and I ducked—like, full-on Matrix dodge—then elbowed him right in the ribs. Guy dropped like a sack of wet laundry.”

Eliza raises a brow. “Funny. Didn’t see a single bruise on you.”

“I’m like air, baby. Can’t hit what you can’t touch.”

“Air talks less.”

“Ouch. That’s hurtful.” He clutches his chest in mock pain. “After everything we’ve been through, I thought we were bonding.”

“We were,” she says, pulling him by his shirt collar. “Then you started talking again.”

Kieran leans in, trying to steal a kiss, but she pushes his face away with two fingers. “Apologize first.”

“For