Close.
Too close.
Not close enough.
Precisely where I need him.Finally, close enough.
His brows are drawn, worry etched into every line of his face.
“That’s it,” he continues to coax.“You’re okay.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, embarrassment washing over me.“I didn’t mean to.”
He shakes his head hard.“No.Don’t do that.Don’t apologize for this.”
“But—”
“Kelly.”His voice sharpens just enough to make me freeze.“You don’t have to hide your panic from me.You never did.”
I swallow hard.“I used to have them before.I remember that.But never this bad.”
His eyes soften.“You had them with me too.”
A tiny gasp leaves my lips.
He nods.“You’d get overwhelmed.Try to hold it in.I’d tell you the same thing then that I’m tellin’ you now, you don’t have to face anything alone.”
Something inside my chest breaks open.
“Why don’t I remember?”I whisper.
He reaches up slowly giving me time to pull away, but I don’t.He brushes a tear off my cheek with the pad of his thumb.His touch is gentle.Cherishing.Like he’s touching something sacred.
“You will,” he reminds softly.“But until then?You trust your instincts.”
I lean into his hand before I even realize I’m doing it.The eye contact between us snaps tight, a wire pulled so taut I’m afraid it might break.His breathing deepens.His gaze drops to my mouth.And just like that, heat floods my stomach.
He feels it too.
I can tell.
For a long, breathless moment, neither of us moves.
His thumb grazes my cheek again, slow and tender, and I swear the room falls away.
“Ledger,” I whisper.
His jaw tics.“Yeah?”
“I—” I don’t know what I’m about to say.
I want you.
I trust you.I’m terrified.
Why do I feel like I already loved you once?
Before I can figure it out, the moment is shattered by a sharp knock on the door.
