It’s a heartbeat synced with mine.
Her fingers twitch against my ribs and a small smile curves her mouth as her lashes flutter open.
“You’re staring,” she murmurs, the sound raspy with sleep.
“Can you really blame me?”
She blinks, squinting against the light. “You’re awfully chipper for someone who kept me up half the night.”
I grin, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “Funny, I don’t remember you complaining.”
“There was definitely no complaining.”
The admission hangs between us, light and teasing but threaded with something deeper. Her smile is shy and warm all at once as the last remnants of distance between us dissolve completely.
We fall into that quiet space that exists only on mornings after everything changes. It’s one that’s fragile but filled with peace and hope.
Her fingers trace lazy circles across my chest, nails dragging lightly through the hair. Each touch sinks deeper than the last, grounding me until it feels like my whole world has narrowed to the press of her skin against mine.
“What are you thinking?” she asks.
“That I don’t want to move ever again.”
Her laugh is small but real, vibrating against me. “You’d get hungry eventually.”
“Then I’d just have to make a meal out of you.”
She lifts her head, eyes meeting mine with amusement and something else. Something open and trusting. “You’d get bored of me.”
“That’s not possible,” I say. “You still don’t get it, do you? It’s been you all along. It just took time for you to believe it too.”
Her expression softens a fraction as she stills. “I didn’t think it was possible to ever let anyone this close.”
I tighten my arm around her and press my lips against her temple. “You don’t have to keep your guard up with me. Not ever.”
“Were you really waiting?”
“Years, Rina.” My thumb strokes the curve of her shoulder. “I’ve been waiting for you for years.”
She leans in and kisses me, her lips brushing mine like a promise before she settles back against my side.
I trace the slope of her shoulder, trying to memorize every detail. The warmth of her skin, the way her breath catches when I touch her, the weight of her hand resting over my heart like she’s anchoring herself there.
She gave me her trust last night.
Not because I asked for it, but because she finally believed it was safe to do so.
And that trust?
I’ll spend every day proving she made the right decision to give it. This is the moment when everything I’ve ever wanted finally settles into something solid and real.
Something that feels like forever.
Outside, morning sunlight burns brighter, glinting off the glass. The world is already moving again.
She relaxes, her whole body loose and unguarded.
The Railers can chase the next win.
