Page 215 of Becoming Us

He nodded, that easy smile reaching his eyes. “You can do this. Just don’t give up before you even try.”

And then I let it in—the hope. It rushed through me like light flooding a dark room. I could do this. I could have this.

“Okay,” I breathed.

He leaned in and kissed me. “Okay.”

I closed my eyes, overwhelmed. “Wasn’t this supposed to be hard?”

He laughed softly. “We’ve done hard. Maybe now we get to do easy.”

Wouldn’t that be something?

He kissed me again, and this time it lingered. We shared that feeling—the joy of finding our way back to each other and actually making it work. It turned into a million kisses, each one adding kindling to the fire.

“Do you want to make good on your promises from last night?” I asked.

He nodded.

“I’ll be right back—I’ll just hop in the shower.” I started to shift away, but he caught my arm.

I paused, waiting. He hesitated again.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” he said, releasing me.

I moved in closer, cupping his face in both hands. “Nah. None of that. We’re still under the covers. This is safe space time. And you’ve been holding something back—so, out with it.”

His eyes widened just slightly.Gotcha. His cheeks flushed, and he looked away.

“Are you embarrassed to tell me?” I asked, surprised.

A nod.

“Is it a bad thing? Am I doing something wrong?”

He met my gaze again. “No, no. Nothing like that.”

I scanned his face, searching for a clue in his expression. “Is it something you want?”

His ears flushed pink.

I licked my lips. “Do you want to play twenty questions? Because you know I’ve got a vivid imagination,” I warned, half-teasing.

Atty chuckled, but it was a little on edge.

My thumb brushed gently across his cheek. “You know you don’t have to be nervous, right? Anything you’d want, I’d want—just because you want it.”

He stared at me, lips pressed tight.

“I’m serious, Atty. If this is about you wanting to try water sports, I’d hop in the shower right now and let you have at it.”

He tilted his head, confused. “What’s that?”

I let out a laugh. Okay, definitely not that.

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I tried to think of a way to make him feel safer. My hand slipped to the small of his back, and a lightbulb went off.