You gave Price a full briefing on the drive over.

Not a mission briefing — worse.

“My family is… intense,” you warned, staring out the window like you were preparing for combat. “They’re going to ask about marriage, kids, settling down — all of it. Just go with whatever I say.”

Price smirked slightly, hands relaxed on the wheel.

“We’re pretending to be together. Got it.” A beat. “Should I be worried?”

You hesitated. “…Yes.”

He chuckled. But you weren’t joking.

You barely stepped inside before your mother launched her first attack.

“Oh, sweetheart—about time you brought a man home. We were starting to think you’d die alone.”

Your spine stiffened. Price blinked. You mouthed Told you at him.

Dinner wasn’t any better.

Halfway through the turkey, your aunt chimed in:

“Thirty years old and still no husband. No kids. You really should’ve settled down by now.”

You inhaled sharply through your nose. Price, beside you, glanced over — reading the tension in your shoulders like it was a tactical report.

Your father piled on:

“That career of yours… Captain or not, it’s not exactly feminine.”

Your stomach knotted. Your fingertips dug into your napkin hard enough to tear fabric.

Then your mother delivered the final blow:

“We just worry you’re… disappointing yourself. You should be focusing on family, not playing soldier.”

The words cut harder than you wanted to admit.

Your breathing hitched. Your jaw clenched. You were one comment away from snapping—

And then you felt it.

Price’s hand slid under the table, steady and warm, settling firmly on your thigh.

Your breath froze. Heat shot up your neck. Your pulse tripped over itself.

He squeezed once — grounding, deliberate.

Your shoulders dropped immediately, the storm in your chest breaking like a wave on shore.

You turned your head just slightly; he met your eyes with a calm, quiet I’ve got you.

Your mother kept talking, but her voice faded behind the sound of your own heartbeat.

Price finally spoke, voice polite but heavy with command:

“With respect… your daughter leads some of the finest soldiers I’ve ever trained.”

Silence.

“She protects people. She saves lives. She’s earned every ounce of respect she has — including mine.”

Your aunt blinked. Your father swallowed. Your mother pressed her lips together.

Under the table, his thumb stroked slow, warm arcs across your thigh.

You nearly forgot how to breathe.

You held it together until the car door shut.

Then you let out a long breath, tension draining from your muscles all at once.

Price watched you with a look that was… soft. Too soft for a man like him.

“You alright, love?”

You nodded, though your eyes stung more than you wanted him to see.

You opened your mouth to thank him — for the touch, for stepping in, for seeing you — but the words caught.

Price reached out, hooking a finger under your chin, gently guiding your face toward his.

Your breath stopped.

“You were brilliant in there,” he murmured.

Before you could respond —

His lips were on yours.

Warm. Slow. Deliberate.

You froze for half a heartbeat — then melted. Completely. Instantly. Your hands fisted in his coat, pulling him closer without even realizing.

Price deepened the kiss, one hand sliding to the back of your neck, the other gripping your hip like he intended to keep you rooted right there.

He didn’t stop. Didn’t rush. Just kept kissing you until your knees might as well have been water and the strict captain who held everything together was gone — replaced by someone soft and breathless in his hands.

When he finally pulled back, your forehead stayed against his, lips parted, breath uneven.

His voice dropped low, rough:

“If that was pretend…” His thumb brushed your lower lip. “…I’m not sure I want it to stay pretend.”

And you knew — from the way your heart thumped, from the way you leaned into him without thinking you didn’t want it to stay pretend either.