I exhaled slowly, stepping closer again, letting every word that came next cut clean through the bullshit. “Don’t you get it? I’ve never had anything I wanted this badly and couldn’t have. Until you.”
She went still.
“I’ve spent my whole life being told I couldn’t have things,” I continued. “Couldn’t afford them. Couldn’t be them. Couldn’t deserve them. I’ve fought for every inch I’ve gotten. But you…” I shook my head, bitter heat tightening my throat. “You’re the first thing I didn’t want to fight. I just wanted to have. To keep.”
Silence settled between us like fog—thick, suffocating.
But she didn’t run again.
And I wasn’t leaving.
She tried to put the wall back up before I even finished speaking. Crossed her arms, turned half away from me, chin tilted like armor. I’d seen it before, on the field, in interviews — that moment she went from open to untouchable in one breath.
But I wasn’t letting her slip behind it this time.
I stepped closer. Closed the gap between us until she had to feel me there — the heat of my chest, the weight of my stare. My voice came out low, rougher than I meant.
“You said it wasn’t part of the contract,” I murmured. “Fine. Let’s make a new one. Just you and me.”
Her eyes flicked to mine at that, just for a heartbeat. She faltered — barely, but I caught it. A tiny crack in the mask. Enough to show me she wasn’t over it either. Enough to tell me last night wasn’t some impulse she regretted.
I didn’t kiss her. God, I wanted to. But I didn’t.
Instead, I let the words hang there and watched her struggle to breathe around them.
“You’re scared,” I said again, softer now. “I get it.”
Her lips parted like she might argue, but nothing came out.
“But I’m done playing fake.” I took another step closer until there wasn’t much space left at all. “You want me to back off? Say it. Say the words.”
She blinked. Her throat worked. She didn’t say them.
For a long, heavy second, we just stood there — me holding my ground, her staring at me like she didn’t know which way to run. My heart pounded like I’d just finished a ninety-minute match. Her hands twitched at her sides, like she wanted to reach for me and didn’t trust herself.
I could’ve stayed. Could’ve pushed harder, kissed her again, crossed the line for good.
But I didn’t.
I stepped back first. Pulled in a breath that didn’t quite reach my lungs.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “That’s your answer.”
Her brow furrowed. “Kieren?—”
But I was already moving.
I turned, grabbed my jacket from the back of her chair, and headed for the door. My hand lingered on the knob just long enough to say what I couldn’t get out loud.
“You know where to find me,” I said. Then I walked out, the door clicking shut behind me.
Down the hall, my pulse was still hammering, my fists still tight. I’d left her standing there, shaken — but I was no steadier. Because she hadn’t told me to stop. Because she couldn’t.
And because, for the first time, I didn’t know if that scared her more than it scared me.
Chapter 23
Daphne
