He didn’t turn around. “That’s a hell of a question.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
I took a breath. “I’ve wondered for a long time. I used to think you liked me that way.”
He shut the burner off, set the kettle aside, and leaned both hands on the counter like he needed the support. When he finally turned, his expression was guarded—but not closed.
Just careful.
“When I got back to Eagle River, you were engaged,” he said.
“I was engaged to that jerk for two weeks, and only because he threatened me.”
His jaw tightened. “You were the sheriff’s daughter.”
“That never stopped you from talking to me or flirting with me.”
“No,” he agreed quietly. “It didn’t.”
“Then why?” I asked.
I didn’t push. I didn’t accuse.
I just stood there and waited.
Eli “Trigger” Jennings studied me for a long moment, like he was weighing whether honesty would cost more than silence. The fire popped behind us, filling the space between heartbeats.
Finally, he said, “Because if I’d asked you out, I wouldn’t have done it halfway.”
My breath caught.
“And I didn’t trust myself to stop once I started.”
The words landed hard. Honest. Bare.
“You think I didn’t notice you?” he continued, his voice low. “Didn’t see the way you tried to make yourself smaller so you wouldn’t rock the boat? The way you smiled when you were uncomfortable because it was easier than explaining?”
My throat tightened.
“You deserved someone who could stand in the light with you,” he said. “Someone uncomplicated. Someone who wouldn’t disappear for days or weeks. Someone your dad wouldn’t worry about.”
“And you decided that wasn’t you,” I whispered.
He nodded once. “I don’t bring easy with me.”
I stepped closer without realizing I’d moved.
“What if easy isn’t what I wanted?” I asked.
Trigger’s eyes darkened. Not with heat.
With restraint.
“You know I never loved Thomas. I would never have gone on a second date with him, because I didn’t like him. I would never have gone through with marrying him. No matter what I had to do.”
He didn’t interrupt.
