I nestled closer to Eli, drawing comfort from his steadyheartbeat. “It became our thing, you know? Even when I was too old for bedtime stories, we’d still read Jules Verne together. It was… it was the one constant I could count on.”
Eli’s arms tightened around me. “That sounds really special.”
“It was.” I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “Until it wasn’t. Until he came home one time and asked if we could skip the reading that night. Of course I said sure. I could see how beat he was. Then one night became another, and another, until we stopped reading together completely.”
“Ouch. I’m sorry,” Eli murmured before pressing a kiss to my temple.
I shrugged. “It’s fine. Ancient history, right?”
“Maybe,” he said, tilting my chin up to meet his eyes. “But it still must have hurt.”
The genuine understanding in his gaze nearly undid me. I blinked rapidly, fighting back tears. “Yeah, well. Like the incident with the flour explosion and my mom, it was time to grow up.”
Eli was quiet for a long moment, his fingers running through my hair. “You’re one of the strongest people I know,” he finally said. “And our past makes us who we are. Warts and all.”
I brushed a soft kiss to his collarbone, allowing myself to bask in the warm comfort of his embrace.
As Eli’s breathing evened out, I found myself caught between contentment and unease. Wrapped in his arms, I felt safer than I had in years. Yet a nagging doubt lingered at the edges of my mind.
Our relationship was still a secret, hidden away from prying eyes and wagging tongues. And with the resort’s future hanging in the balance, how long could we keep thisbubble intact? I wanted to believe in the connection we’d forged, but old doubts whispered.
I closed my eyes, willing myself to focus on the present—the warmth of Eli’s skin, the steady rise and fall of his chest. Tomorrow would bring enough challenges on its own. For now, I’d allow myself this moment of peace, even as a part of me wondered how long it could last.
