I understood then. The shattered look. The way he couldn’t quite meet my eyes.
I shifted on the bed, making space beside me.
“Come here.”
He hesitated. Like he wasn’t sure he deserved to be close to me. Like he thought I might flinch away from him now that I’d seen what he was capable of.
I reached for him with my good hand, caught his wrist, pulled him toward me.
“Come here.”
He moved to the edge of the bed, carefully, like I was made of glass. I tugged him down until his forehead rested against mine, until I could feel his breath warm on my face, until there was nowhere for him to hide.
I pressed my forehead to his, kept him there.
“You saved my life. You saved Mia’s life. Whatever else happened in that clearing, that’s what matters.”
“I lost control.”
“You stopped. When it counted, you stopped.”
“What if I hadn’t?” His voice cracked. “What if Daniels hadn’t shown up? What if I’d?—”
“But you did stop. You heard her voice, and you stopped.” I held his gaze, willing him to hear me. “That’s who you are, Liam. Not the man with his fist raised. The man who put it down.”
“You don’t know what it felt like.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Seeing you on the ground. The blood. I thought you were dead. I thought I was too late, and all I could think was that I never told you?—”
His voice broke.
“Never told me what?”
He opened his eyes. They were wet, red-rimmed, more vulnerable than I’d ever seen them.
“That I love you,” he said. The words came out rough, scraped raw. “I’ve been wanting to say it for weeks. Months, maybe. But I kept waiting for the right moment, and then you were bleeding in the dirt and I thought I’d missed my chance. I thought I’d never get to tell you.”
My throat tightened. Something cracked open in my chest, something I’d been holding closed for so long I’d forgotten it could open at all.
“I love you too.” The words surprised me with how easily they came. How true they felt. “I think I have for a while. I was just too scared to say it.”
“Scared of what?”
“That it would make it real. That if I said it out loud, I’d have something to lose.” I laughed, but it came out watery. “Stupid, right? I almost died today, and my biggest fear was admitting I love you.”
“Not stupid.” His hand cupped my face, gentle, careful of the IV line. “I get it. Wanting something that much… It’s terrifying.”
“Yeah.” I leaned into his touch. “It is.”
“I can’t lose you, Riley.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “When I saw you on the ground, when I saw the blood, I thought… I thought the universe was taking someone from me again. My parents. Gran. And now you. I thought I was cursed. I thought everyone I loved was destined to leave.”
“I’m not leaving.” I turned my head, pressed a kiss to his palm. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I love you.”
He said it again, quieter this time, like the words wouldn’t stay contained if he didn’t let them out.
“I love you. I love Mia. And I love the life we’re building.”
“I know.” I pulled him closer, ignoring the twinge in my shoulder. “I do too.”
