Kissing Cayden sober was one thing, but kissing her drunk was heavenly. All I could think about was her. It was like the entire world melted away and the only thing that mattered was her touching me.

I pressed a hand gently to her face as she slowed our kisses from hungry and urgent to slow, almost romantic. Every time I kissed her, I was blown away by how much I loved it. I'd never experienced anything like it with anyone else.

I wrapped my arms around Cayden's neck, keeping her close. Our kisses were gentle and sweet, one of the things I was quickly realizing I liked best about Cayden. Even when things got hot, she was always somehow gentle with me. Her hands were firm and supportive and comforting, not commanding.

I opened my mouth slightly, inviting Cayden in. Our kiss deepened as her tongue met mine. All of it was perfect.

But, the longer we stood there, the more I realized I was exhausted. I could've kissed Cayden forever, but after all of that dancing and talking and just generally going about my day, I was struggling to stand upright. I was hoping I was hiding it well, but it'd be hard for Cayden not to notice.

"Are you sleepy, baby?" Cayden asked and my heart nearly swelled out of my chest. I wanted to ask her to say it over and over again. Baby. Baby. Baby. That was me to her. I was her baby. I was hers.

"No, no," I said and shook my head.

Cayden put her hands to my face and tilted me to look at her. Her dark brown eyes studied me intensely, tracing over my cheeks and forehead and nose. I loved the feeling of her hands on my skin and the way her thumb gently brushed my cheekbones.

"You are tired," Cayden said, her raspy voice low and smooth and rich. I genuinely believed in that moment it was the softest sound I'd ever heard.

"I want to be here with you."

"I know. You can still want to be here and be tired. I'm not offended," Cayden said.

"But I want to be awake. I want to spend time with you," I said, feeling scarily transparent. But I could tell I was still drunk because I didn't get the usual stroke of fear that I got whenever I was honest with Cayden about something. My confession came out with relative confidence and genuine desire. Even Cayden seemed surprised by it. But I could tell from her smile that she was pleased.

"You want to spend time with me?" Cayden asked, teasing me.

"Of course," I said and Cayden kissed me.

"Are you hungry?"

"I—" I tried to remember the last time I'd eaten. In my mind, it seemed like I'd just had dinner maybe an hour or two earlier, but it was closer to probably six or seven at that point. Now that food was being mentioned, it was the only thing I could think about. "Yeah."

"What do you want? I'll make you something easy," Cayden said. "I'm really good at making eggs."

"You don't have to cook for me," I said, absolutely melting. I could feel myself inching closer and closer to in too deep but I couldn't stop myself. The more I got to know Cayden, the more I wanted to completely lose myself in her. I wanted the giddiness and the cheesy texts. I even wanted the boring moments, too, like her helping me with school work or emptying the dishwasher like I'd seen my parents do a thousand times.

"You should eat," she said. "You're probably going to feel like shit in the morning already and being hungry definitely won't help. Do you like eggs? Maybe some toast?"

My lips naturally upturned into a smile, unable to hide how she made me feel. "I'd love that."

Cayden gestured to her kitchen island—with the same navy leather covering the barstools as the dining room chairs at her table—I took a seat while I watched her cook. She was natural in the kitchen, she moved in what felt like one fluid motion between tasks. Even though the eggs were one of those things that seemed like anyone could cook, even I could tell Cayden knew her way around a recipe.

As she was cooking, she hummed to herself songs that I didn't recognize and took the time to fill up my glass of water. The gesture was so sweet—exactly the thing that Sebastian would never do for me—that I almost got emotional as she did it.

After what could've been anywhere from five minutes to twenty, Cayden plated our breakfast foods and placed my eggs in front of me. She sat down in the chair next to me with her own plate.

"This is wonderful, thank you," I said, almost feeling like words were inadequate at that moment. It was something so simple but it meant a lot. Other than eating what J&J made for dinner, no one outside of my family had cooked for me. It felt really special.

"Not a problem at all," Cayden said. She brushed her long dark hair behind her ear, focused on her food. But I found it hard to not just stare at her. I knew I was into her—I pretty much had been from the second I saw her—but I still had moments where I was amazed she looked like she did. It was hard to believe someone could be that beautiful. It made it all the more surprising that she wanted to be with me, that I got to kiss her. That she was taking the time to cook for me after I showed up at her place close to midnight on a Monday.

"You're good in the kitchen," I said after working my way through a portion of my food. It was delicious, the eggs were fluffy and perfectly cooked, the toast was just the right amount of buttery.

Cayden smiled modestly. "I'm alright. I feel comfortable with cooking a lot of things but I'm still working on it."

"That's impressive."

"It's nothing. Cooking is all about timing, it's something anyone can learn," Cayden said. She was quiet for a second, picking at her food. "I spent a lot of time alone when I was a kid. Learned to be pretty independent pretty quickly. Cooking just kind of came with the territory."

"Sounds lonely," I said, unsure of what else I could say. Cayden never really talked about herself. Everything I learned from her, I learned in small bits.

Cayden chuckled, just once. "Yeah, I guess. Good point. But it made me self-sufficient in a lot of ways. I can handle myself or take care of other people. It's nice to not have to rely on anyone."

"I agree. Even if it's nice to be taken care of sometimes."

"Agreed," Cayden said, surprising me a little bit. I was still clinging to that first impression of Cayden—that tough, playful, somewhat masculine version of her—but the more I learned, the more it seemed like she really just wanted someone around. She didn't strike me as the domestic type, but between cooking and taking care of me and her love for physical intimacy, she seemed to crave comfortability.

I leaned toward her and kissed her, just once, and so gently it was barely anything at all. "Thank you," I said and Cayden kissed me in response.

After we both finished, Cayden cleared the table and got me more water before gently slapping my ass. "Let's get you to bed," she said.

"I'm not tired!" I protested, but my soft tone and my lazily half-opened eyes definitely betrayed me. Cayden laughed in response. I started toward her bedroom, not really even thinking about it. I just knew I wanted to be in her bed and in her arms.

Cayden laid down first and then I joined her, sinking into the unbelievably luxurious mattress and pillows. I actually moaned as I closed my eyes.

"Do you want clothes? Or were you just going to sleep in your dress?"

"Too tired," I said, suddenly feeling like I was being weighed down by bricks. But the thought of getting out of my clothes was heavenly. I sat up and Cayden helped me get my dress over my head, the action intimate but with no sexual overtones. I unclipped my bra as Cayden dug through her dresser and tossed me a giant Miami Dolphins shirt.

"Miami," I said.

"My dad bought it for me," Cayden said. "It's huge so it should be comfortable to sleep in."

I slipped it over my head and laid back down as Cayden shuffled around the room, also changing into pajamas.

"I don't want to assume anything," Cayden said and cleared her throat, "but I, um, have toothbrushes here if you want to keep one around. I bought one of those giant packs for when friends from home come and crash."

"You want me to keep a toothbrush here?" I asked, suddenly feeling a touch more awake. My heart started beating faster, my entire body waiting for Cayden to be like no, just kidding or no you misheard me. I sat up in bed, watching as Cayden slipped into a pair of comfortable-looking sweatpants.

"That makes it sound really serious."

"That's really sweet. Like, genuinely."

"It's nothing—"

"Does this... do you like me? Kind of sounds like you like me." I asked, my tone taking on a surprisingly teasing tone. I was definitely still drunk but I liked the boldness of it. I liked feeling confident around Cayden. And I liked that she made me secure enough to make comments like that without worrying she'd abruptly go cold. For some reason, I really trust that she wasn't going to just leave me without a single word.

"Obviously I like you," Cayden said, sidestepping the obvious tone I was giving. "But also... maybe. Maybe I like spending time around you."

"Cay," I said, my voice no more than a whisper—it coming out in an aww tone.

"If anyone asks, I didn't actually say any of this. All of this is going away in the morning. I do not talk about feelings—"

"Okay, fine. You have my word. This lives right here, right now," I said, getting up so I could brush my teeth. I slipped by Cayden, pressing my chest to her back and placing my hands on her waist. "I like you, too."