I flushed. “Fuck off, I’m not that bad.”
“No, but with the way you’re looking at him, it’s only a matter of time.” He nodded at the door. “Out. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.”
“Night.”
I got out of the car and waited for Max to drive away before walking towards my door.
And Rys.
“Hey.” I stopped a foot or so away, hands shoved in my pockets, suddenly feeling all kinds of awkward. Like I had the last time I was with him like this.
Then I had the excuse of still being a teenager.
Now I was a grown man who’d faced down Caleb Tombs, for fuck’s sake. Why was I nervous?
“Hey.” Rys obviously felt no nerves at all. He strode towards me with purpose, only coming to a halt when there was barely any space between us.
He traced the edge of my jaw with his thumb. It was the only place he touched me, but he might as well have stripped me naked and run his hands all over me.
I felt him everywhere.
“I know it’s late,” he whispered, dipping his head to nuzzle the base of my throat. “But I needed to see you.”
“Needed?”
“Yes,needed.” He breathed in deep, his exhale tickling my skin. “We have to talk.”
“Talk?” That was the last thing I wanted to do tonight. As was obvious by my stellar conversation so far. “About?”
“Everything,” Rys murmured, finally pulling back to look at me. “After last night and this morning, we have a lot to discuss, don’t you think?”
He was right, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to talk about any of it.
“It’s been a long day,” I said instead. “I’m tired.” I was. Dealing with Lady Sarhin hadn’t been something I’d expected to do today, and anything to do with the fae left me feeling a lot guilty and a little relieved that I wasn’t part of that world.
Rys nodded, and I knew he was going to take me at my word and leave.
I didn’t want that either.
Yesterday had changed everything between us. Whether it was his acceptance of the truth after all these years or his revelation that we were soulmates, I couldn’t say. But I didn’t want to let this second chance slip through my fingers and go another ten years without having him.
Taking his hand, I pulled him close again. “I know we have a lot to talk about. And I want to, but not tonight.” Peeking up, I met those beautiful brown eyes that now looked at me with a warmth far more intense than I’d ever seen there before.
My breath hitched, and Rys smiled.
“Okay. No talking.” He wrapped me up in his arms, reading me so well, because what I needed right now was to lose myself in the strength of his grip. Trusting that he’d keep me safe while I took a moment to regroup after such a draining day.
And I did trust him, I realised.
One day. More like, onenight.
That’s all it had taken for me to rekindle feelings for Rys that had never gone away. Dimmed by the years and his refusal to hear me out, definitely. But as he held me tight against his chest, solid and unwavering, I remembered how he used to make me feel before.
Even though I was older, Rys had always been the stronger one, the confident one. I’d leant on him more times than I could count when Tombs had beendifficult. I’d never told him why, and he’d never asked.
Both too young to realise that an omission of truth was almost as bad as outright lying. Maybe neither of us had trusted the other enough to share our secrets back then, but I hoped that had changed.
We’d bared our souls last night.
