I hear him stand, hear his footsteps. "I'll get you one from the linen closet. Down the hall. You'll hear me the whole time."
"Don't..." I stop myself, swallow hard. "Don't leave."
"I'm not leaving. Just moving down the hall for ten seconds. You'll hear every step."
I hear his footsteps moving away, the sound of a door opening, footsteps coming back.
"Here."
I open the door just enough to reach one arm through, and his hand finds mine in the darkness, warm and solid and real as he passes me the towel.
"Thank you."
I dry off quickly and wrap the towel around myself, opening the door wider.
He's standing right there, closer than I expected, and moonlight from the hallway window catches his face and his eyes.
He's looking at me like... I don't know exactly. Like I'm something he wants desperately and can't have. Like I'm breaking him just by standing here wrapped in a towel with water still dripping from my hair.
"You should get dressed."
"Right."
But I don't move and neither does he.
We're standing too close in this dark hallway, the air between us heavy and charged with something I can't quite name.
"Isabella—"
"Thank you." The words come out quiet and sincere. "For staying. For the story. For everything."
"You don't have to thank me."
"Yes I do."
CHAPTER TEN
What the fuck am I doing?
I should step back, put distance between us, walk away, go downstairs, do anything except stand here in this dark hallway with Isabella wearing nothing but a towel.
But I can't move. I won’t fucking move.
She's looking at me and moonlight from the window catches the water still dripping from her hair, catches the curve of her collarbone where the towel slips just slightly, catches those hazel eyes that have been destroying me for four years.
"You should get dressed."
My voice comes out rough and wrong, betraying everything I'm trying to hide.
"Uh… Y-yeah."
She doesn't move though, and neither do I.
The space between us is too small, maybe two feet at most, close enough that I can smell the soap on her skin, close enough to see the rise and fall of her chest coming fast and uneven, close enough to reach out and touch if I let myself.
Don't.
My hands curl into fists at my sides.
