I shake my head hard. “Don’t.”
He steps closer anyway, slow, careful. “I’m not trying to devastate you.”
“I know.” My laugh turns bitter. “That’s what makes it worse.”
His hand lifts like he wants to touch me, then stops halfway, like he’s remembering last night. Like he’s choosing restraint even when it costs him.
“I don’t want to be careful with you,” he admits, low. “But I will. If that’s what you need.”
My chest tightens so hard it hurts.
Because I want to be careful. And I also want to be reckless.
I want him to take me home and make my brain shut up.
I want him to prove that I’m not the villain in someone else’s story.
I want him to kiss me until the woman’s smile stops haunting me.
Instead, I stand there trembling in a parking lot like I’m in college again and one wrong choice will ruin my life.
Jace exhales, slow and controlled.
Then he nods once, like he’s making a decision for himself.
“But I do think I need to give you some time,” he says quietly. “I should go.”
My throat tightens. “Jace…”
He holds my gaze. “I’m not leaving you Sarah. I’m just… listening.”
He steps back, giving me space I didn’t ask for but probably need.
“I’ll text you when I get home,” he adds. “You don’t have to answer.”
I hate how gentle that is.
I hate how much it makes me want to cry.
I nod once because I don’t trust my voice.
He looks at me for one more beat, like he’s memorizing my face.
Then he turns and walks away.
I stand by my car until his taillights disappear at the edge of the lot.
And when I finally get into the driver’s seat, I grip the steering wheel with both hands and stare straight ahead like I can force my heart to calm down by sheer will.
It doesn’t work.
Because tonight was unbearable.
And the daylight is coming.
Now I have to live with the fact that I kissed him like I meant it. And stopped him like I was afraid of it.
My house is quiet when I walk in.
