The silence stretched. I should leave.
"Safe travels, Mr. Langford."
"Goodbye," I managed.
I walked away without looking back, my face burning.
In the car, I watched the Grandview disappear, knowing I couldn't marry Elizabeth. Not because of a security guard who probably wouldn't remember my name next week, but because my desperate need to be seen by a stranger revealed everything about the life I'd been living.
"I made a fool of myself," I said. "Didn't I?"
"No."
"You couldn't wait to get rid of me. 'Safe travels, Mr. Langford.'" I tried to laugh. "Very professional."
"I was being professional. You were a guest. An engaged guest." His hand resumed its slow movement on my back. "Whatever I noticed wasn't my business."
"What did you notice?"
"That you were unhappy. That you kept looking for something." A pause. "That you looked at me like I might be the answer."
"Did that bother you?"
"It confused me. I didn't think about you the way I think about you now. Not then. You were just... someone who seemed lost."
"And now?"
"Now I know what I was feeling. I just didn't have a name for it yet."
I tilted my head up. "When did you know?"
"The night you showed up at the wedding. When you said, 'please don't make me go back.'" His arms tightened. "Something clicked."
I kissed his chest, right over his heart.
"We're here now," I said.
"Yeah. We're here now."
He pulled me closer. I closed my eyes.
For the first time in weeks, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Chapter12
Vance
I woke with Tobias in my arms, unsure of what to do next.
This wasn't something I had experience with. The morning after. The moment when two people who'd crossed a line had to navigate the space they'd created. My previous encounters had been straightforward: physical, uncomplicated, easily concluded with a handshake and a mutual agreement to never speak of it again.
This was different.
Tobias was different.
He was still asleep, his body fitting against mine as if designed for it. His hair was a mess, dark strands falling across his forehead. His lips were slightly parted, still swollen from the night before. In sleep, he looked younger. Softer. Like the careful armor he wore during the day had finally been set aside.
I'd almost lost him.
