Three dots appear.
Disappear.
Appear again.
Gray: i don’t think that’s the best idea.
My stomach flips.
Harlow: I’m serious.
Harlow: Unless you don’t want to.
The dots appear instantly this time.
Gray: i want to.
Gray: i’m just trying not to be the guy who takes more than you mean to give.
A small smile tugs on my lips, because, of course, that’s where his head goes. Because he’s him.
I swallow and press my forehead to the door.
Harlow: I know what I want. And that’s you.
There’s a pause—long enough to feel like a held breath.
Gray: unlock your door
My fingers are shaking when I slide the lock. I barely get my hand off it before there’s a soft, careful knock. I open the door. Grayson stands there in the dim hallway, hair messier than it was ten minutes ago, eyes dark and wide and too controlled for how disheveled he looks.
He doesn’t step in.
Not yet.
He waits for me.
My chest tightens.
I reach out, hook two fingers in the front of his sweater, and tug.
Grayson’s breath stutters as he steps over the threshold slowly, like crossing it matters. Like this is a line. I close the door behind him, and the click is quiet. But it lands heavy. Grayson looks at me—really looks—as if he’s making sure I mean the words I’ve said. The permissions I’ve given him.
“You sure?” he asks in a low voice.
I nod. “Very.”
His gaze drops to my mouth for half a second, and he exhales like he’s in pain. Then he steps closer, hands still at his sides, and I see him flexing them again. Trying to keep himself in check.
But I don’t want him to hold back.
He stops inches away. Close enough that my skin heats on instinct.
“You can tell me to stop at any time,” he murmurs. “If you change your mind…”
“I won’t,” I whisper, and it’s the most honest thing I’ve said all day.
Grayson lifts his hand slowly, like he’s still offering the choice, and cups my jaw again. His thumb brushes my cheek once. Gentle. Grounding. Then his mouth is on mine, kissing me deeper than before, hungrier, like my boldness to ask him to come back took his earlier restraint and turned it into a burning need.
