“I see you,” she whispered.
“You sayin’ that,” he groaned, chewing on his lip a little, “gon’ make me forget every reason I been tryin’ to keep my hands off you.”
“Then why haven’t you kissed me?” she asked.
His smile was slow, pained, and tender. “’Cause I don’t wanna ruin this.”
“This?”
“Whatever this thing is we slidin’ into.” He tapped his chest lightly. “This shit feel different. And I ain’t tryna fuck it up by movin’ too fast.”
Her body betrayed her, leaning even closer, eyes dropping to his mouth. “You think you could ruin it?”
“I know I could.” He nodded with a distant look in his eyes. “Especially with where my head be at…and how my life look right now.”
His fingers brushed a curl behind her ear.
Meadow stopped breathing, like full on stop. Her whole body lit up too.
Zaire’s thumb grazed her cheek. She was something he didn’t think he’d ever be allowed to touch. “If I kiss you right now…I ain’t stopping.”
Meadow’s eyes fluttered. “Zaire?—”
“Nah - listen.” He brushed her jaw with the back of his hand. “We kiss, it’s over. You gon’ know exactly how bad I been wantin’ you. You gon’ feel all the shit I don’t say. And I ain’t about to do that if you ain’t ready.”
Her lips parted. Her thighs squeezed tighter. “I’m…” she swallowed. “I don’t know what I’m ready for.”
“Yeah,” he whispered, “me neither.”
Their foreheads hovered inches apart, not touching but close enough that she felt his breath mix with hers. Close enough to know that if either of them moved a millimeter, they’d be gone.
Zaire pulled back first, just enough to breathe. He stared at her like she was a sunrise he wasn’t supposed to watch. Like something beautiful he didn’t trust he could hold.
“I want you,” he confessed. “More than I should.”
Meadow’s heart burst open in the best way possible. “Me too.”
“If I kiss you, baby,” his voice trembled in that masculine way that told a woman he wasn’t trying to game her. “It’s gon’ change everything.”
She whispered back, “Maybe everything needs to change.”
Zaire closed his eyes because she had no idea what she was silently begging him for.
Still…he didn’t kiss her.
He stood up, offering her his hand again, the same gentle grip that held her steady earlier. “C’mon. We should walk back.” His voice was deep but careful, like he was afraid of what he’d do if he sat next to her a second longer.
Meadow took his hand, electricity running through her like his touch revived her again. Love had never been in the cards forher, at least no time soon. She’d dated but none of them moved past sex or stupid dates. Zaire made her want to really try…now.
And even though they didn’t kiss, the air around them felt kissed, touched, tasted…claimed in a way neither of them could undo.
They walked back to the house in a slow cadence. Hands brushing…hearts thumping…breaths unsteady.
By the time they reached the porch, Meadow’s knees felt weak in that way she wasn’t ready to claim. The walk back should’ve settled her, yet it did the opposite. Every step brought her closer to a truth she could feel rising up between them like heat. She stopped halfway up the steps and turned to face him.
“What if I want to kiss you too?” she whispered.
Zaire froze. Not like he didn’t hear her. Like he heard her too well. His tongue pressed the inside of his cheek. He dragged a slow breath in, hand brushing across his nose the way men do when they’re trying to choke down something.
