I blinked at the sudden seriousness in his voice. “Yeah,” I said. “He does.”
Shane put the bacon in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before he swallowed and cleared his throat. “Can I be honest with you?”
I huffed. “When have you ever asked?”
“I’m being serious, Noelle,” he said. He leaned forward and clasped his hands, eyes flicking out toward where Beau was now walking with Willow and Rhett in the direction of the shop, Hazel still in his arms and pulling his hair. “I’ve never seen you feel safe. And right now…I don’t know, dude, it’s like—it’s like you let your shoulders relax for the first time since I’ve met you.”
I went quiet.
Because he was right.
I’d never really thought about it like that before—hadn’t stopped long enough to notice the way my body had settled in the past week. The way the constant buzz in the back of my head had dulled, the way I wasn’t gripping my phone like a lifeline or jumping at every email notification. I hadn’t checked my calendar. Hadn’t kept one eye on the door. Hadn’t made an exit strategy.
I was just…here.
Breathing. Sleeping. Fucking. Laughing.
“I think,” I said slowly, “that I forgot it was allowed. Feeling safe, I mean.”
Shane’s face softened, just a little.
Then he said, “Don’t let that make you reckless.”
I nodded. “I’m trying not to be.”
“Because I’ll support you no matter what, you know that. If you want to stay here and raise chickens with that mountain of a man, I’ll figure out how to do remote production. But if you’re running from something, or if this is just escapism with really good abs?—”
“It’s not,” I said. “It’s not that.”
He studied me. “You’re sure?”
I chewed on my lip, letting out a long breath. “I’m…a little freaked out, obviously. This is fast. But I’m not doing anything but staying for a bit, and he’s…he’sgood, Shane. He’s really good. And not even a little bit complicated, just solid and kind and?—”
“—absurdly hot.”
I gave him a look, but didn’t disagree.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “That too.”
Shane leaned back again, eyeing the dregs of his coffee. “You think he’s the one?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question—not because I hadn’t thought about it, but because I’d thought about ittoo much. In the quiet moments between the sex and the laughter and the grocery runs, I’d caught myself looking at Beau like I already knew.
Like I alreadyhad.
It felt like gravity.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But I think…I think he might be.”
Shane didn’t smile. He didn’t joke. He just nodded.
“I’m glad he makes you feel safe,” he said after a beat. “You deserve that.”
I looked at him, surprised by the sincerity in his voice.
“Thanks,” I said.
We both went quiet again. Beau was almost out of sight now, Hazel bouncing on his hip as Willow pointed at something down the block. Rhett walked beside them, laughing at something I couldn’t hear.
