He doesn’t push. He never does — which is somehow worse because it makes me want to tell him everything I’m not supposed to share with anyone.
“Lily said you were sad yesterday,” he adds gently.
My eyes snap wide. “She said what?”
He lifts his hands. “Relax. She just said you seemed ‘off.’ And that you needed someone around.”
Oh.
Right.
Lily.
She returns then, plopping the lamps inside and coming back out like she wants to glue herself to both of us.
“Can we sit outside later?” she asks Ethan, hopeful. “I made hot chocolate. Lucky can join us.”
Ethan glances at me. “Only if she’s up for company.”
His tone is careful. Respectful.
Like I might break.
And maybe… I might.
But for the first time today, the idea of not being alone doesn’t feel terrifying.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “Company’s… good.”
Lily grins. Ethan’s shoulders relax. And somewhere deep in my chest, something unclenches.
He lingers after Lily disappears inside—probably to grab more marshmallows or find a reason to hover close by again.
For a moment, it’s just the two of us on the patio, sun dipping lower over the lake, the air warm enough to pretend the storm never happened.
He leans a shoulder against the railing beside me. Not touching—just close enough to feel the steady heat of him.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asks again, quieter this time.
I let out a slow breath. “No. But I’m not… drowning.”
It’s the closest to honest I can manage.
He nods like he gets it—not the words, but the space between them. “If you ever want to talk… or yell… or throw something not breakable—”
A tiny, unwilling smile tugs at my mouth. “You offering your face?”
He huffs out a laugh. “I meant like a pillow. Or maybe Charlotte’s ceramic turtle, which she bought me. Not sure anyone would miss it.”
His humor is dry, understated, exactly the kind that slips under my guard before I can stop it.
My shoulders loosen a little.
It’s stupid how much I depend on this man’s calm.
How easily he steadies me without even trying.
“Thanks,” I say finally. “For the lamps. And for… I don’t know. Being here, I guess.”
