“You didn’t,” he said. “You trusted me. That’s different.”
She swallowed. “I don’t trust easily anymore.”
“I know.”
Her voice dropped. “But I trust you. That scares me.”
Rook’s breath caught.
He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t expected her to say it out loud.
“Aves…” he murmured.
She looked up at him, eyes shining. “I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what we’re doing. I just know that being near you feels like coming back to myself. And that scares me.”
Rook closed his eyes for a moment, letting the words hit him where he’d been trying not to feel anything.
When he opened them, she was still watching him — hopeful, terrified, open in a way that made his chest ache.
He brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it gently behind her ear. His fingers lingered at her jaw, his thumb brushing her cheek.
“Aves,” he murmured, voice low, “I need you to know something.”
She looked up at him, eyes wide. “What?”
He exhaled slowly. “I never stopped caring about you. Not once. Not for a damn day.”
Her pulse jumped.
“I tried,” he admitted. “I tried to move on. Tried to forget. Tried to bury it. But every time I thought I’d finally let you go…” He shook his head. “You’d show up in my dreams. Or I’d hear your laugh in a crowd. Or I’d see something that reminded me of you and it’d hit me all over again.”
Avery’s eyes glistened. He cupped her cheek. “Noah…”
She steadied herself. “I never stopped caring either. I thought I had. I told myself I had. But when I saw you again…” Her voice cracked. “It felt like I’d been holding my breath for years.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing hard, letting the words settle deep in his chest.
When he opened them, she was still looking at him like he was something worth staying for.
He leaned in. Not enough to kiss her, just enough to feel the warmth of her, enough to feel the pull of her, enough to feel everything he’d been trying to bury.
Avery’s lips parted.
He froze.
She froze.
The moment stretched, soft, fragile, dangerous.
Then he pulled back, breath unsteady.
Avery blinked. “Why did you stop?”
“Because wanting you scares the hellout of me,” he said quietly. “And I don’t know what happens if I mess this up.”
Her eyes softened. “I’m scared too.”
He let out a slow breath. “Yeah. I know.”
