I sat up, pulling the sheet around me like armor. My voice shook, but I forced the words out anyway. “Us. The Taste-Off. All of it. I asked you here to talk, and I didn’t. I just—” I swallowed. “I wanted one more moment with you before I did the right thing. I’m so selfish, and I’m sorry.”
His eyes softened with understanding. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. I couldn’t look away.
“I’m falling in love with you,” I admitted, the truth burning as it left me. “And that’s exactly why I can’t be the reason you get hurt. Or Tilly. Or the Pennywhistle. I won’t let Graham touch your life because of me. Even if it means walking away from what I want most.”
My chest ached, every breath a fight.
Nate didn’t move for a long second. He just looked at me, eyes searching my face like he was trying to memorize it and understand it at the same time.
Then he reached up and brushed his thumb over my cheek, so gentle it almost undid me.
“Eliza,” he said quietly, “you don’t get to decide what hurts me.”
My breath hitched.
“I know you think you’re protecting me,” he went on, voice steady but thick with feeling. “And damn, I love you for that. But loving someone isn’t about stepping out of the way so they don’t get hit. For good people, it’s about standing next to them when it comes. But for me, it means taking the blow.”
Tears burned behind my eyes. “Nate?—”
He sat up too, keeping the sheet around his waist, close enough that our knees touched. “I chose you. No matter what is going on, I will choose you. Whatever Graham is trying to do,whatever mess he’s stirring up—you won’t face it without me. Not after this. Not after knowing what it feels like to hold you, and have you look at me like I matter.”
“You matter,” I whispered. “Too much and that’s the problem. I’ll do anything so you don’t get hurt.”
His mouth curved in a soft, sad smile. “But you matter too. And I’m not walking away from that because it’s hard right now.”
“But Nate?—”
He took my hands in his, warm and sure. “If you need space, I’ll give it to you. If you need time, I’ll wait. But don’t tell me this—us—was just a goodbye you needed to get through the night. Because it wasn’t for me.”
My chest ached so badly I thought it might split open.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I said. “But?—”
“No buts. You won’t lose me,” he promised, like it was the simplest truth in the world. “Not unless you truly want me gone. And Eliza… I don’t think that’s what you want.”
I shook my head, tears finally spilling. “No. It’s not.”
He pulled me into his arms again, pressing a kiss to my hair, holding me like he could keep us together, and keep the world out. “Then we’ll figure it out,” he murmured. “Together. Even if it’s messy. Even if it scares us.”
I clung to him, breathing him in, knowing I was standing on the edge of everything I’d ever wanted.
“I just need a minute, okay? Some space to figure out what I have to do.”
He pulled away, worry deepening across his face. “Eliza…”
“I’m serious,” I said quickly, before he could talk me out of it. “Graham isn’t going to stop. I think he blames me for everything. He expected to come back here and be a big shot, and it’s not going as expected. And I think—I think he’s going to come after you and the Pennywhistle. I can’t let that happen. I won’t do that to you, Nate.”
His voice was low and steady. “You think he’s responsible for the inspection.”
“I do.” My throat tightened. “But I can’t prove it. And if we go to the Taste-Off together, if we win or even come close, it’s just going to make him angrier.”
Nate reached for my hand, threading our fingers together. “You think stepping away will protect me.”
“Yes.”
“You think I wouldn’t walk through fire for you?”
That stopped me cold. The sincerity in his voice. The way he looked at me was like I mattered more than anything else.
