I knocked once and waited.
Silence.
Sighing, I knocked again. “Rylin, open the door. I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”
Another second ticked by, then there was a faint sound of movement inside and the soft creak of the floor.
The lock clicked, and the door cracked open just enough for me to see her eyes—the hazel orbs rimmed red and swollen. She blinked, then seemed to change her mind and tried to slam the door shut, but I was already stepping forward, one hand out to block the hard surface before it could close.
“Rylin.”
“Micah, don’t?—”
My other hand went to her belly, my palm pressing gently but firmly as I stepped forward. I moved slowly enough to keep her from panicking, but with no room for her to misinterpret who was in control of this moment. I pushed her back a step, crossed the threshold, and shut the door quietly behind me.
She wasn’t crying now, but she obviously had been. Her lashes were clumped, her skin flushed, and her breathing was uneven.
I wanted to haul her into my arms and never let go again. But first, we were going to talk. Because there needed to be no misunderstandings. No more pretending this thing between us was anything but vital.
“I’m not here to argue,” I assured her, keeping my voice low and steady. “But I’m not letting you hide from me either.”
“I wasn’t hiding,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, her expression defensive and guarded.
Deciding not to pull at that thread, I stepped closer and added, “I’m not here to ask whether that rumor is true. Because I already know it’s fucking garbage. I knowyou. That’s not what this is about.”
She blinked rapidly and looked away.
“What I want to know,” I continued, voice rough with the weight of everything I wasn’t saying, “is why you didn’t come to me. Why didn’t you trust me enough to talk to me before running?”
Her arms dropped, shoulders sagging. “I didn’t want you to think it was true.”
I let out a short breath, not quite a laugh. “That’s what you were worried about? That I’d believe some random jealous gossip?”
She shook her head. “It’s not just that. I didn’t want you getting dragged into it. I’ve heard about the team’s code of conduct. The morality clause in your contract?—”
I tunneled my fingers through my hair and looked up at the ceiling, taking a moment to pray for patience before meeting her eyes again. “You think I give a single fuck about what some petty coworker said? Rylin, this wouldn’t even blip on the team’s radar. You’re not some scandal. There’s no public meltdown. No paparazzi photo. It’s gossip in a deli. Not Page Six.”
She bit her lip and stared at me, too many emotions moving behind her eyes for me to grasp what she was feeling.
“But that’s not even what’s killing me here,” I added quietly as I closed the rest of the distance between us and curled my fingers around her biceps. “It’s the fact that you thought I’d believe it. That you think so little of me—of us—that you assumed one rumor could blow this apart.”
Her chin trembled, but she tried to hide it with a swallow and a shake of her head. “I wasn’t trying to blow it apart.”
“You pulled away. You tried to end things. And then ran instead of facing them. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain how little it matters. Baby, I get that you have baggage and scars, but I know you’re stronger than this. What we have is stronger than this.”
Her eyes welled up, finally meeting mine. “I didn’t want to be a liability.”
“For fuck’s sake, Rylin.” I dragged a hand down my face, then held up her notebook that she’d left behind. “You think I want you just because you’re convenient? That I’d give you up because of a whisper? I want you because of this. Because you’ve got a gift and a fire and this big, beautiful heart that you guard like it’s some fucking burden to everyone around you.”
I put the notebook on a little table against the wall and took her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing over her cheeks.
“I want you because you try so hard to keep smiling when life keeps throwing punches. Because you take care of everyone else, even when it costs you. Because you’ve got this ridiculous talent you pretend doesn’t matter. I want you because you make me feel something I’ve never felt before.”
Her breath caught. Her lashes fluttered, and she leaned into my touch like she couldn’t help herself.
“Baby, I take care of you because I want to. I can’t stand to see you give so much and get so little back. Even from yourself.”
I leaned in until our foreheads touched. “I don’t need you to protect me, Rylin. I just need you. All of you. The soft parts. The scared parts. The pieces you think aren’t good enough. I need to be everything for you that you can’t or won’t be for yourself.”
