The words hit like a physical thing. I stare at him. "What?"
"The day I left. He figured it out. Made me tell him the truth. Then told me he was fine with it."
"And you didn't think to mention this?"
"I needed time to process. To figure out what I wanted."
"What do you want?"
He looks at me. Really looks at me. "You. I want you."
"Then why are you here and I'm in Hearts Bend?"
"Because wanting something and knowing what to do about it are different things."
I close the distance between us. "Stop overthinking this."
"Callie."
"Stop." I put my hand on his chest. Feel his heart racing under my palm. "I drove twelve hours to be here. Don't tell me to leave."
"I wasn't going to."
"Then what were you going to say?"
He covers my hand with his. "That I'm done fighting this. That you showing up here in the middle of the night is the bravest thing I've ever seen. That I'm sorry for making you drive twelve hours when I should've driven home days ago."
"Ethan."
He pulls me closer. "I'm done running, Callie. If you still want this, want me, I'm done running."
I rise on my toes. Bring my lips close to his. "I want this."
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything."
He kisses me.
It's not gentle. Not careful. It's urgent and desperate and everything we've been holding back for months. His hands slide into my hair. My fingers curl into his shirt. We stumble backward until my back hits the wall.
"Callie." My name is rough against my mouth.
"Don't stop."
"I won't."
His hands find the hem of my shirt. Pull it up and over my head. I work the buttons of his shirt while he kisses my neck, my collarbone, lower. Every touch burns. Every breath comes faster.
We make it to the bed somehow. A tangle of limbs and half-removed clothes and need that's been building for too long. He pauses above me, his eyes dark and questioning.
"Last chance," he says. "We do this, everything changes."
"Everything's already changed."
He kisses me again. Slower this time. Deeper. His hands map my body like he's trying to memorize every detail. I arch into his touch, wanting more, needing more.
When he finally pushes inside me, I gasp. The feeling is overwhelming. Perfect. Everything I imagined and nothing like it at the same time.
