I set Isa on her feet beside the bed.
For a second, we just stood there. Breathing. Looking.
The humor faded first.
Then the fear.
Not all of it.
Enough.
My hands rested on her hips. Her fingers stayed curled in my shirt.
“I need you to hear me,” I said.
She nodded.
“If we do this, it’s not because you gave me a ring.”
“I know.”
“Not because you flew here.”
“I know.”
“Not because you’re trying to prove something.”
Her expression softened. “Drew.”
“I mean it.” My voice was rough now. “I’ve wanted you since that beach. I wanted you when you were looking at Vale. I wanted you when you hated me. I wanted you when you wore my jersey and when you cried over your leg and when you fell asleep on my couch.” I swallowed. “But I didn’t want part of you. Not like that. Not enough to take your body while your heart was still locked somewhere you wouldn’t let me touch.”
Her hands slid to my jaw.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” Her thumb brushed my cheek. “And I hated you for it.”
I huffed out a laugh. “I noticed.”
“I wanted you so badly I almost started arguments just so you’d stop being noble.”
“That tracks.”
“But you were right.”
Those words hit harder than they should have.
She stepped closer until her body touched mine.
“You were right to wait. Not because I didn’t want you. Drew, I wanted you so much I thought I might die from it.”
My whole body reacted.
She noticed. Of course she noticed.
Her mouth curved.
