Brick sighed.“Yeah,” he finally admitted.
“How long?”
“Long as I can remember,” he mumbled.It wasn’t a big deal.
Her expression told him everything.There was sympathy and understanding there, anger at whatever had caused them.None of it was pity.She didn’t pity him.She saw him and perhaps she saw too much.
Brick reached for his water bottle on the nightstand just to have something to do with his hands.His fingers brushed hers accidentally.
He froze and so did she.The air in the room tightened instantly, like a wire pulled taut.
Tessa’s voice dropped to a whisper.“Brick.”
He knew what she meant.He knew what she was asking, without asking.
And for the first time, Brick didn’t feel the automatic pushback.The instinctive retreat. Instead, something in his chest cracked open.He trusted her.It hit him like a punch.
When the hell had that happened?
Maybe it had started the moment she made him breakfast.Or the moment she smiled at him like he was worth smiling at.Or the moment she walked into his nightmare without fear.
Whatever it was, it was real.
Real enough to terrify him and to steady him.Hell, he didn’t want to fight it anymore.Tessa shifted closer and he let her knee touch his leg under the blanket.Brick didn’t move away.
He let her warmth sink through the cracked armor of his skin.
She spoke again, voice soft but certain.“You don’t have to be alone with this.”
Brick opened his eyes and found hers.Searching and steady.No judgment or expectations, just presence.
His voice came out low, rough.“I’m not used to letting people in,” he admitted.
“I know,” she whispered.“But you let me in now.”
He didn’t deny it.
Brick lifted a hand.He did it slowly, giving her time to pull away, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.Her breath caught, chest rising, eyes softening.
“Dangerous,” he murmured.
“For who?”she asked, barely breathing the words.
Brick didn’t hesitate this time.
“For me.”
Because wanting her meant vulnerability.Vulnerability meant risk and risk meant pain.
But as she leaned in just slightly, not kissing him, not yet. Brick felt something he hadn’t felt in years.
Hope, warm, subtle, and quiet.He exhaled, the nightmare finally releasing its grip completely.
Tessa stayed beside him, knee touching his, resting her hand near his thigh, calm and steady like an anchor.
Brick didn’t fight his attraction anymore.Not tonight and not with her beside him in the dark.He let himself want her and trust her.
Tessa drew in a small breath.
