My chest tightened anyway.
“That’s not the same as choosing me,” I said quietly.
“I know,” he replied.Then, after a breath, “But Iamchoosing you.”
The room went still.
“I don’t know how to do this perfectly,” he continued.“I don’t know how to be unguarded without panicking later.But I do know this...walking away from you feels worse than staying and trying.”
Trying.
The word carried weight.Not forever.But effort.Presence.Risk.
I studied him, searching for cracks, for escape routes.Found none.
“And what does trying look like to you?”I asked.
“It looks like honesty,” he said.“It looks like showing up instead of disappearing.And it looks like not pretending this is casual when it isn’t.”
Something in me eased.Not completely but enough.
“I won’t chase you again,” I said.
“I don’t want to be chased,” he replied.“I want to be...chosen back.”
The servers cleared the table without comment, leaving dessert behind—chocolate soufflé, still warm, untouched between us.But the air had shifted.Less volatile.More dangerous in a quieter way.
Creed stood and extended his hand.“Dance with me.”
I hesitated only a moment before taking it.
He drew me into the open space near the window as soft music filled the cabin—low, restrained, intimate.His hands settled at my waist, steady, guiding without pressure.We moved slowly, the yacht swaying beneath us, the city glittering beyond the glass like a world neither of us quite belonged to.
“You’re thinking too hard,” he murmured.
“I’m afraid if I stop, I’ll believe you,” I admitted.
His grip tightened slightly.“You should.”
I looked up at him.“And when this gets complicated?”
“It already is,” he said.“That’s not what scares me.”
“What does?”
“Needing this to work.”
The honesty stole my breath.
His forehead rested against mine, fingers flexing at my lower back like he was anchoring himself to the moment.I wanted to pull away.I wanted to hold tighter.
Instead, I stayed.
“I’m not asking for perfection,” I said softly.“Just presence.”
“You have it,” he said.“As long as I’m capable of giving it.”
That should’ve worried me.
