Too safe. Too impossible. Too much like something I could get used to if I let myself.
I blink, letting my eyes adjust to the soft light spilling in through the shutters. The snow outside makes everything glow faint and pale blue, like the world is still holding its breath.
His hand shifts slightly against my stomach, and I stiffen without meaning to.
A beat passes.
Then his voice, low, groggy, rough with sleep, rumbles behind me. “Mornin’, darlin’.”
My heart stutters.
“Morning,” I whisper, still not turning around.
Neither of us moves. The air is thick with the awareness of how close we are and how we didn’t mean for this to happen. Or maybe we did. Or maybe we just didn’t stop it.
His hand flexes once, then slowly pulls back, giving me space.
“Sorry,” he says. “Didn’t mean to crowd you.”
I finally roll to face him, hair a mess and my heart even messier. “You weren’t.”
His eyes meet mine, soft but clear. Searching.
We stay like that for a long second, breath mingling in the hush of the early morning.
Neither of us says what we’re thinking.
But it’s loud in the silence.
“Had a dream about you,” he says, voice low and sleep warm.
I blink. “Yeah?”
“You were floating away in that Prius of yours.”
I smile softly, heart picking up pace. “Did you save me?”
“I sure as fuck tried.”
Something in the way he says it, like it mattered, even in sleep, hits me right in the chest. Before I can stop myself, I lean in.
Our lips meet in a soft, uncertain kiss. Just a breath of a moment, but it’s enough to light a spark low in my stomach. Enough to make me ache in places I thought were too tired to feel anything. Enough to make me want.
I pull back slowly, eyes still on his.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
His brow furrows slightly. “For what?”
“For saving me,” I say, my voice a little shakier than I’d like. “Even in your dreams.”
His hand finds mine beneath the blanket, rough fingers brushing over my knuckles.
“I’ll always try,” he murmurs.
The words settle in my chest like a promise I never asked for but suddenly want to believe in.
Outside, the storm has passed.
