Sofia stood in the kitchen with the movie still going in the background and the pot bubbling steadily on the stove and her mind somewhere between the game and the food and the fact that Liam was sitting on the couch in his boxers looking at her.
'He's staring,' she thought, reaching for the pot handle. 'I can feel it. He's absolutely staring and I'm standing here in a singlet and panties trying to act normal about all of this.'
She wrapped her hand around the pot handle.
"Ouch—"
The sound came out before she could stop it, sharp and immediate, and she pulled her hand back and shoved her finger into her mouth, her eyes watering slightly at the corners.
Footsteps behind her. Fast.
Liam was beside her before she had fully processed what had happened, his hand coming out and taking hers gently, turning it over so he could see.
"You okay?" he said. He was looking at her finger with the particular focus of someone who was actually checking rather than just asking.
