Dan leaned in now too, the sharp edges of his humor softened with rare clarity. “If Arden can walk into your world and not just survive, but make you want something more? Then she’s already fighting for you. The question is whether you’re readyto fight back.”
Gideon exhaled slowly, the pressure in his chest shifting, no longer just weight. Purpose.
Arden.
She wasn’t fragile.
She wasn’t a phase.
She was a wildfire in a world built on ice, and she didn’t flinch.
She made him believe there could be more.
Even if the belief terrified him.
“You two are relentless,” Gideon muttered, but his tone held more than recognition.
It held conviction.
Nathan didn’t remove his hand.
“Someone has to be. You’ve spent so long guarding yourself, you don’t even see what’s right in front of you.”
Dan smirked, sharp again. “Besides, I’m not about to let you sabotage this. Arden isn’t just some woman, Gideon. She’s changing you.”
Gideon looked between them, the silence thick again, but no longer oppressive.
Just real.
Just clear.
He let out a breath. “I won’t let them get to her.”
Dan leaned back like he’d won a bet. “Now that sounds like the Gideon Blackwell I know and tolerate.”
Nathan shook his head, but his approval was evident in the smallest shift of his mouth.
“Don’t wait too long,” he said, voice lower now. Measured. “Time has a way of running out when you least expect it.”
Gideon didn’t answer right away.
Because Nathan was right.
And he knew it.
What the hell was he waiting for?
Not Arden. She wasn’t the one hesitating.
Not clarity.
He’d chosen.
No, what he was waiting for was the moment to move.
To act.
To finally do what needed to be done.
