The pantry door is cool against her back while my body is fire against her front.And I know this isn’t just lust.It never was between us.It’s every word we haven’t said.Every promise that has been broken.Every piece of us that still belongs to each other, no matter how much we tried to deny it.
Her voice is barely a whisper when she finally speaks.“What do we do now?”
I swallow hard, my thumb brushing her cheek.“We stop pretending there’s nothing left between us.”
Her eyes search mine, wide and unsure, and I know it isn’t just my battle anymore.It’s hers too.
Chapter Twenty
Chemistry
Zora
My back is still pressed to the pantry door when he pulls away.My lips tingle, swollen, and my breath is coming in ragged gasps.Maverick’s hands linger at my waist like he isn’t ready to let go, and maybe I’m not ready either.
God help me.Because every nerve in my body is alive, humming, desperate for more.I haven’t felt like this in years, this kind of lust and need.I feel raw, hungry, and undone.And it terrifies me.
I push at his chest, not hard enough to move him far, just enough to give myself a sliver of space.“Maverick, we can’t—”
He catches my hand before it falls away, his thumb brushing across my knuckles.“We already did.”
My body shivers at the heat in his voice, the promise in it, the memory of us.My heart and my libido scream yes, but my head fights back.
I shake my head, pressing my free hand to my lips as if I can erase the taste of him.“This is dangerous.We’re supposed to be building something steady for Ivy.Not...”My voice falters.“Not this.”
His jaw tightens, his chest rising and falling like a storm barely contained.“You think what just happened makes me less steady?”His eyes burn into mine.“Zora, I’ve been fighting like hell to keep my distance.To be patient.But the truth is...”He leans closer, his breath brushing my cheek.“I still want you.All of you.And I don’t think I can keep pretending otherwise.”
My pulse pounds so hard I swear he can hear it.Because I want him too.I never stopped if I’m being honest.The heat between us has always been undeniable, and my body betrayed me the second his mouth touched mine, arching into him, clinging, drinking him in like oxygen.
But beneath the ache is fear.Fear of letting him close again.Fear of giving him not just my body, but my heart, the heart he’s already broken once before.
I pull back another inch, wrapping my arms around myself.“You hurt me, Maverick.You left me to raise her alone.Do you have any idea what it cost me to survive that?”
His face twists, pain flashing across it.“Every day.Every second.And I hate myself for it.”His voice cracks.“But I’m here now.I’m staying.And I swear to you, Zora, if you let me in, I’ll never walk away again.”
The words should soothe me.Instead, they carve deeper into the crack running through me, into the divide between fear and hope.Because part of me wants to believe him.But a different part of me is terrified of what believing can cost me.
