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“No, but I’m here now, and I see how much you care. Sure, you work a lot, but you also put in so much effort to bond with her. You braid her hair. You know the names of all her friends and classmates. You have a weekly dinner tradition. Plus, how many famous athletes personally oversee their nannies’ full-day trial run? That’s actually insane. But you did it because you wanted to do it, and you care.” Carina shook her head. “Kids are smart, Noah. If Evie felt you were lacking or absent, you’d know. But that little girl adores you. Anyone can see that.”

Her words sank into me with a strange, unexpected weight. Warmth curled behind my ribs, and it took a second to compose a reply.

“You give a good pep talk, Vu,” I said, my voice rough. I cleared my throat, my face heating with an uncomfortable rush of emotion.

I’d never voiced my insecurities as a father before. The vulnerability made me feel naked and exposed, but fuck. Carina’s confidence in me made me want to be the man she believed I was.

She shrugged, a small smile playing around her mouth. “It’s easy when it’s the truth.”

Our eyes found each other again. The tension from our kiss crept back, slow but relentless. It hummed between us like a current in the air. A tingle in my bones. I felt tilted off my axis, as if the ground had shifted when I wasn’t looking and I could no longer find my footing.

The quiet pulsed around us, and this time, I was the one who looked away first.

I rubbed a hand over my face, embarrassed by my rambling and the direction my thoughts had taken. Again. “I’m sorry for unloading on you like this. It’s been a long day. I didn’t mean to keep you up so late.”

“Please. If I didn’t want to be here, I would’ve left long ago.” Carina’s voice softened. “I’m glad we had a chance to talk. You don’t have to carry everything by yourself, you know. If you ever need to get things off your chest, I’m here.”

Dammit, she meant it too. I heard the pure sincerity behind her words, and it undid me even more than our kiss had.

Aren’t you lonely?

Adil’s question from a few weeks ago floated through my mind. I couldn’t distinguish between alone and lonely at the time. Maybe I still couldn’t. But I knew that with Carina, I was neither.

“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. I was afraid any more words out of my mouth would reveal my hand more than I already had.

“Anyway, we should get some sleep. Like you said, it’s been, um, a long day.” Carina pushed back her chair, and I helped her place the mugs in the sink and clean up before we exited the kitchen.

We walked in silence. Our steps fell into a natural, unthinking rhythm, but I couldn’t relax. The halls felt too narrow, the air too thick. Her presence made it hard to think straight, and I hated how aware I was of her every movement.

When we reached the stairs, I let her go first, hoping the distance would give me room to breathe.

That was a mistake.

My throat dried when she headed up in front of me. Her hips swayed gently with every step, and her jeans hugged the curve of her ass in a way that was positively sinful. She was also still wearing that damn jersey. The white number two taunted me. I wanted to tear it off and kiss the very fucking memory of it out of her, and I hated myself for it.

After everything that’d happened, her little flirtation with Samson should’ve been the last thing on my mind, but it stuck like a thorn in my chest.

I forced my eyes to the side and didn’t look at her again until we reached the landing.

“Carina.” I stopped her before she entered her room. I was tempted to end the night without mentioning our kiss again, but I had to get it off my chest. I owed it to both of us to clear the air, especially after she’d sat there and listened to me rant for the better part of the hour. “About what happened at the pub...”

“Don’t worry about it.” She flashed a quick smile. I thought I detected a hint of something more conflicted beneath her easygoing demeanor, but it was hard to tell in the dark. “It did its job. Let’s put it behind us and move on.”

My jaw tightened. I should’ve been happy she wasn’t making a big deal over it, but I felt an annoying stab of disappointment at how easily she’d brushed it off.

“Right,” I said. “That was my thinking as well.”

We lingered. My room was at the opposite end of the hall, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.

“Good night, Wilson,” Carina said, so softly I almost didn’t hear her.

“Good night, Vu.”

She disappeared into her room. My attention held on the spot where she’d been standing before I shook myself out of it. But I couldn’t shake the echo of her words in my head.

Put it behind us and move on.

Easier said than done.