Luke stared up at her.

For a moment, Lauren worried that she had hurt him. His gaze dropped from her face, and his hands tightened beneath the blanket. The erection beneath her weakened slightly as uncertainty entered his expression.

She had expected disappointment. Perhaps even embarrassment. What she had not expected was the quiet hurt settling across his face, as though every careful word had sounded like a polite rejection.

Lauren wanted to reassure him. She needed him to understand that she was not pushing him away, that she would wait, and that nothing between them had to disappear. She was already imagining how to explain it more gently when Luke suddenly moved.

He caught her around the waist and pushed himself upright.

Lauren released a startled breath as he lifted them both. She settled into his lap with her knees on either side of his hips, and the nightgown bunched even higher around her thighs. Their bodies remained pressed together, but now their faces were almost level.

Luke held her more firmly than she expected.

The strength in his arms had grown since his awakening. He was still lean and inexperienced, but the young Adonis Lauren had imagined no longer felt impossibly far away. Beneath his uncertainty, there was something solid in him that had not existed when she first found him outside her café.

He looked directly into her eyes.

"Miss..."

Luke stopped, and his throat moved as he swallowed.

"No. Lauren."

Hearing her name without the respectful title sent a warm shiver through her. Luke seemed to feel the weight of it too. He had called her Miss Lauren for so long that dropping the title felt more intimate than it should have.

"Go out with me."

Lauren blinked.

Luke’s face was still red, but he refused to retreat.

"Be my girlfriend," he continued. "I understand what you’re saying. I know I depend on you, and I know I have to become independent."

"Luke..."

"But I don’t want us to pretend nothing is happening until then."

His arms tightened around her waist. The movement drew her closer, and his half-soft cock pressed more firmly between them again.

"I can still work on myself while we’re together. I can get stronger, find proper work, and save money. I don’t have to pretend I don’t want you until I’ve figured everything out."

Lauren’s lips parted.

Luke pushed forward before his courage disappeared.

"I don’t want to go back to treating you like you’re only Miss Lauren. I know you’re Yvonne now, and I know you want me too."

A trace of Yvonne’s confidence entered Lauren’s smile.

"You sound very certain."

"I am."

"Even after everything I just said?"

"Yes."

Lauren studied him. "You’re not only saying this because you think I’ll change my mind if you don’t?"

"No."

"Or because you’re afraid I’ll ask you to leave?"

Luke’s expression tightened. "You wouldn’t."

"I wouldn’t."

"Then no."

His answer came quickly, but Lauren kept watching him. Luke understood what she was asking. He was not offended by the questions, even if they clearly hurt.

"I liked you before you brought me home," he said. "I liked seeing you at the café. I liked when you remembered what I ordered, and when you sat with me even though you had work to do."

Lauren’s chest warmed.

"You were kind to me before you had any reason to be," Luke continued. "That matters, but it isn’t the only reason I want you."

"What else do you want?"

Luke’s gaze flickered downward before returning to her face. "You."

Lauren raised one eyebrow.

"All of you," he corrected, growing redder. "Not only Yvonne. Not only because you gave me a room. I like how you look after everyone, even when you pretend you aren’t worried. I like hearing you laugh downstairs when the café is busy. I even like when you tell me what I’m doing wrong."

"That last one sounds suspicious."

"It happens often enough that I had to get used to it."

Lauren almost laughed. The answer was too honest and too much like Luke to dismiss.

"And what exactly are you offering your much older girlfriend?" she asked.

Luke hesitated. Lauren waited while he glanced toward the side of the bed, then forced himself to meet her eyes again.

"I don’t have much yet."

"I know."

"But I’ll keep helping at the café. If the awakening program gives us a real chance to become heroes, I’ll train seriously. I’ll learn what I need to learn and stop acting like surviving from one day to the next is enough."

The confidence in his voice grew as he continued.

"I’ll become someone who can protect himself and the people he cares about. Whether that means becoming a hero or working at your café full-time, I’ll keep moving forward."

Lauren’s teasing expression faded.

Luke had spent most of his life being treated like a burden. His father had thrown him away the moment he became an adult, and strangers had ignored him while he begged for help. Even after Lauren took him in, part of him had continued living as though every meal and night indoors might be taken away without warning.

Now he was talking about a future.

Not a grand fantasy or a promise to become the strongest hero alive. He was talking about work, training, savings, and becoming useful enough to protect the people he loved.

He was not asking Lauren to carry him forever. He only wanted her beside him while he learned to stand on his own.

"I don’t expect you to do everything for me," Luke said. "I want to be able to do things for you too."

"You already save me time every day at the café."

"That’s work."

"You helped me when I was afraid last night."

"That’s different."

"You followed me into danger."

Luke’s grip tightened. "And I’d do it again."

"You already saved my life."

"That isn’t enough."

"It is to me."

"It isn’t to me."

His answer came without hesitation, making Lauren’s heart tighten.

Luke lowered his eyes for a moment. "You gave me somewhere safe when I had nothing. I know I can’t repay that by throwing myself in front of one criminal and acting like we’re even."

"This isn’t a debt."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Yes." Luke looked back at her. "That’s why I’m asking you to be my girlfriend instead of promising to repay you."

Lauren went still.

There was no perfect confidence in his face. His ears were red, his breathing remained uneven, and she could feel his heart pounding where their chests nearly touched. He was terrified of what she might say.

Even so, he had chosen to ask.

Luke leaned closer until their foreheads nearly touched. His voice softened, but the conviction behind it remained.

"I don’t know what kind of man I’ll become yet, but I know I want you beside me while I find out."