He saw it once and suddenly he's helping. And when he told Sophia off, I felt something.
I don't know what exactly, but it was something.
The way he said those things?
So casually, so brutally. "Shame is a small word."
He made me feel backed up. Defended.
Like I'm not crazy for hurting. Nobody else ever made me feel like that.
These thoughts make my stomach twist. I don't know.
What if this is just because I'm hurt?
What if this is just because Sophia crushed my ego and he showed up at the exact wrong or right time?
What if it's not real and I'm just latching onto the first person who makes me feel wanted? But then I remember the way my heart jumped when he teased me at the poker table.
The way I blushed when he said my glare looks better on him.
The stupid way my chest warmed when he called my dream "badass" instead of "stupid" like everyone else.
So yeah, I might like him.
I want more of those moments.
But I don't know if I'm allowed to want that.
I don't know if I'm strong enough to deal with everything that comes with it.
And I don't know if he'd even stand next to me when it stops being fun and starts being ugly.
When people talk. When family yells. When things get real.
I press my face into my sleeve and breathe. Maybe it would be easier if this was just some random crush.
On some random guy. But it's not.
It's Gio.
The worst option and the best feeling, all at once. I want him gone so my heart can calm down. I want him far away so I can go back to my plan, my degree, my safe little future.
But I also want him close.
And that's what terrifies me the most.
Not that I might like guys. But that I might already like him.
This is not okay. I want to talk to someone. Ineedto fucking talk to someone.
This is too much. But I don't want to actually talk.
Not really. Definitely not about him.
I stand in the middle of my room for a second, biting my lips. Then I find myself walking out. I stop outside Daisy's room. I lift my hand and knock.
"Yeah?"
