“But with you…” I swallowed. “I feel seen even when you’re not saying anything. Even when you’re standing ten feet away like you’re afraid to take up space.”
Silence stretched between us, taut and fragile.
“I told myself I was confused,” I admitted. “That it was stress. Fear. Relief.”
I shook my head. “But it isn’t. It never was.”
Trigger exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding that breath for years.
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” he said gently.
“I do.”
I stopped directly in front of him now. Close enough to feel the warmth of his body. Close enough that stepping away would be a decision instead of instinct.
“I feel this,” I said, pressing my hand lightly against my chest. “Here. It’s not loud. It doesn’t rush me. It doesn’t make me feel small.”
My voice trembled. “It makes me feel like I can breathe.”
Trigger’s hand lifted halfway—then stopped, hovering like he was afraid to touch me without permission.
“Rylie…” His voice was rough. “I don’t take lightly what you’re offering.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I’m offering it.”
His eyes searched mine, looking for doubt. For fear. For something that would let him retreat.
He didn’t find it.
Slowly—so slowly it felt like time itself leaned in—his hand settled at my waist. Not pulling. Not claiming.
Just grounding.
The contact sent a shiver through me, but I didn’t move away.
“You should know,” he said quietly, “if I’d asked you out… it wouldn’t have been coffee.”
I smiled faintly. “What would it have been?”
“A promise,” he replied. “And I didn’t think I had the right to give you one.”
I rested my hand over his wrist. “Maybe you still do.”
We stood there like that—no kiss, no rush—just the truth laid bare between us.
And for the first time in a long while…
I wasn’t afraid of what I felt.
I was certain. I stepped closer and stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. That’s all it took. Trigger pulled me into him as close as I could get and took over the kissing.
16
Rylie
The moment our lips touched, something inside him broke loose.
Trigger’s hands came up fast—one at my lower back, the other threading into my hair—drawing me into him with a low sound in his throat that made my knees weak. The kiss deepened instantly, not frantic, not rushed, but sure. Like he’d waited long enough and wasn’t about to hesitate now.
