My brain short-circuits.
“Tess,” I manage. “If this is, if you’re not sure…”
She tilts her head up. I can just barely make out the gleam of her eyes in the low light.
“I’m sure, Leo,” she says.
And then she kisses me.
It’s nothing like the crosswalk. Nothing like the almost kisses, the broken, panicked moments. This is slow. Deliberate. Her mouth presses to mine like a decision, not a question.
I make a sound I don’t recognize. It’s too much. Too sudden. Too perfect.
I don’t grab her. I don’t push. I let her set the pace, let her mouth move against mine, tasting faintly of sugar and exhaustion and something deep and familiar.
When she pulls back, just a fraction, she exhales against my lips.
“You still listening?” she asks.
“Yes,” I breathe. “God, yes.”
“Good.”
Her fingers curl in my shirt again, and this time, she pulls.
I go willingly.
She backs me up until my shoulders hit the padded wall. The warmth presses in from every side. My skin is buzzing. My hands hover uselessly in the air because I don’t know where I’m allowed to touch.
“Leo,” she says softly.
“Yes.”
“Touch me.”
The permission hits harder than the kiss.
My hands land on her hips, tentative at first, like she might vanish. She doesn’t. She steps closer, fitting against me like this is where she’s been aiming all along.
I feel everything. The curve of her. The heat of her body through her clothes. The way she exhales when I finally pull her closer.
“This, ok?” I whisper into her hair.
“Yes.”
I kiss her again. Slower. Deeper. My hands move with purpose now, not greed, learning her, memorizing the way she responds. She makes a quiet sound that goes straight to my spine.
The proofing room hums around us, warm and breathing and alive.
I’ve never felt more present in my life.
I don’t know what comes next. I don’t plan. I don’t fix.
I just stay.
And listen.
Chapter 29
