“A little,” I answer as he trades my bags for Dizzy, who’s trying to get to me, and places his hand against my lower back to lead me inside the house.

“Got you Lo Mein when I ordered Chinese for myself earlier. It’s in the microwave.”

“Cool, will you heat it up for me? I’m just going to change real quick.”

“Sure.” He drops his mouth down to mine again for another touch before taking my bags with him toward the kitchen. I go to my bedroom and kiss the top of Dizzy’s head one last time before I set him on the floor, watching him run right back out of the room as I head for the closet. I trade my scrubs for a pair of loose pajama shorts and a tank top, then grab a sweater and go to the kitchen, hearing the microwave beep.

“You want one of your ciders?” he asks.

“Sure.” I head around the island toward him then watch him open the fridge. The moment I see how stuffed full it is with food, I look at him.

“I thought you were just going to pick up the basics,” I say, raising a brow, and his eyes come to me.

“I did,” he answers, opening the cider and handing it to me. Moving around him, I open the door to the fridge and look in. I wasn’t wrong. The shelves are full, along with the meat and fruit drawer.

“I hope you plan on helping me eat all this stuff,” I tell him, opening the freezer and finding it’s just as full, with different kinds of meats and frozen vegetables.

“It’ll all get used,” he answers, and I shake my head.

“I don’t normally cook on my days off, but now I guess I’ll have to.”

“Stop complaining about having food in the fridge and come eat,” he orders as he pulls down a bowl from the microwave and hands it to me, shoving a fork into the noodles.

“I’m not complaining,” I lie, and his lips twitch. “Whatever.” I take the bowl with me to the living room and take a seat on the couch, while he comes over, sitting next to me, with his own beer.

“How was work?”

“Good.” I shrug, figuring after his statement last night about being crazy jealous, it’s probably best to leave out anything to do with Dr. Hofstadter and the creepy vibe he gives me.

“Just good?”

“Yeah, nothing much happened. We had one new patient come in, but the rest of the night was quiet.”

“Quiet’s good,” he says, reaching over and tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

“Quiet is good, but it also means time has a tendency to drag, and since I would rather have been home hanging out with you, quiet sucked.”

“I see,” he murmurs, and I catch his smile before he takes a pull from his beer.

“What did you do today?” I ask, blowing on a forkful of noodles before taking a bite.

“Work, and your dad came by to see me.”

“What?” I choke on a noodle and start to cough. Only when I’m done does he continue.

“Apparently, he heard I took you home last night.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, when it is, since I wanted to be the one to tell my parents about Harlen’s and my new relationship status. I knew I should have taken time to call them this afternoon, but I didn’t, and now I’m sure they’ve heard about Harlen carrying me out of the bar, caveman style.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, then ask, “What did he say?”

“First, he told me to back off. When I ignored that suggestion, he told me that if I fucked you over, he’d have my balls.”

“He didn’t,” I whisper as anger fills the pit of my stomach.

“It’s all good. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not all good.” I drop my bowl to the coffee table with a clank and stand. “And it is a big deal. I can’t beli—” My words are cut off and my breath leaves on a whoosh as I’m pulled down onto his lap and his arms go around me tight.

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. I can’t believe he’d try to threaten you to stay away from me,” I say trying to get out of his hold that only seems to grow tighter.

“Am I here?” he asks, and I let out a frustrated huff then glare at him.

“That’s not the point.” Even though it does make me happy that he is here and not running for the hills to get away from me and my crazy father.

“It is the point.”

“It isn’t the point.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Sheesh.”

“Christ, you’re cute when you’re pissed on my behalf.” He grins, and I continue to glare. Then he laughs hard, so hard his body shakes, and even though I love hearing it and feeling it, I’m still pissed.

“This isn’t funny, Harlen. This is serious,” I say, and he laughs harder, tucking his face into my neck and continuing to laugh there. “I’m serious.”

“I see that, Angel,” he tells me through his laughter, and I growl.

“It’s not funny! He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have done it the first time, and he really shouldn’t have tried it again.”

“You’re right. It’s not funny.” He sobers, pulling back to look at me, and I brace when I see the look in his eyes. “It’s not okay for your dad to try to scare me off, but if we have girls one day, I’ll end up doing the same shit. So like I said, it’s all good.”

Holy shit. He said we. Oh God, I can’t breathe.

“Fuck,” he mutters, giving me a squeeze. “Do not even start overthinking that shit.”

“I’m not.” I wheeze out my lie, and he shakes his head.

“What the fuck am I going to do with you?” he asks with a soft look in his eyes, and I shift on his lap. “Let’s focus on the good shit before we start worrying about weddings and kids,” he says, and my eyes widen on the word weddings then my breath leaves on the word kids. “Fuck.” He smiles, and I close my eyes, deep breathing. “Guess that’s one way to get you to be quiet.”

“Shut up,” I whisper, and he laughs.

“Eat your food.”

“Don’t boss me around.”

“I see you’re in the mood to argue,” he mutters, looking at the ceiling and letting out a heavy, exaggerated sigh.

“Shut up.” I fight back a smile then let out a shriek of laughter as he tosses me off him, putting my back on the couch and coming down over me.

“If you’re not hungry, I have plenty of other ways to keep your mouth busy,” he tells me, dropping his mouth to my neck and touching his tongue against the skin there, making me shiver.

“I don’t think I’m hungry anymore,” I whisper, locking my fingers into his hair, and I feel him smile against my skin before he nips my neck. Pulling back, his eyes search mine. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shakes his head then I lose his eyes when his head dips and his lips touch mine. As I open my mouth, his tongue slides in and I whimper, tasting him and the beer he was drinking. Shifting, I wrap one leg over the back of his thigh and tighten my hold on his hair.

His hand cups my breast through my tank and my back arches off the couch into his touch. Then he pulls down the cotton material and his fingers pull my nipple, sending a jolt of electricity through me, forcing me to rip my mouth from his so I can moan, “Harlen.”

“Right here.” He dips his head then his lips close around my nipple, that warm, wet heat making me gasp and grind my hips into his. “Fuck.” His mouth leaves me and his hand locks around my hip so he can hold me down. My eyes spring open and I stare at him, panting. “Angel.” I see the heat in his eyes and I lick my bottom lip, watching his eyes drop there.

“Take me to bed, Harlen,” I whisper, and lucky me, I don’t have to ask twice.

He grabs both my ankles and pulls my legs around his waist, ordering “Lock them, baby.” I do, then his hand slides under my back and he stands, taking me with him.

The second we’re up, I drop my mouth to his as he walks us back to the bedroom. Feeling his hardness through his jeans and my sleep shorts, I nip his lip then moan when his hand smacks my ass hard, so hard I gasp as my clit vibrates and my core clenches. I don’t see it when we enter my room, but I know when he puts his knees in the bed with me still wrapped around him. My back hits the bed and his weight settles on top of me, and then we lose each other as I force his shirt up over his head and he does the same with my sweater and tank top. His chest drops back down to mine and the hair covering his torso scrapes across my nipples, making me realize the reality of him is way better than anything I could have imagined in my head.