They’ve held my pain when I couldn’t carry it alone.
They’ve fluttered my stomach with quiet glances from across a crowded room.
They’ve set my body on fire when I’ve been most vulnerable.
And they’ve told me how much he loves me—without any words at all.
There’s nothing I trust more than these eyes.
ButGod,how I’d love the words.
A flicker of panic sparks through me.
Shit.
I told him I loved him.
Twice.
He didn’t say it back.
My stomach knots.
I inch closer, sliding my arm across him as he rolls onto his back. I rest my ear against his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat ground me. I focus on my breath.
Deep inhale.
Slow exhale.
Matt’s heartbeat.
The sex was incredible. The best. Waiting this long. All that built-up tension. The frustration. Even the almost the other night, and the conversation that followed. It all made this that much better.
It was earned.
Matt’s fingers wander lazily across my back in rhythmic strokes.
I ran.
I came back.
We tried the whole friends thing.
We ended up in bed again.
Same shit. Different day.
I sink further into him, tracing the grooves in his abs.
Same old story...
Only this time—I’m determined to make the ending different.
Chapter Forty
MATT
Eight Weeks Until the Guardianship Hearing
