Page 44 of Glitches and Kisses (The Havenwood #2)

Evan tightened his features in frustration. I could see it, the argument forming behind his eyes, the fight he wanted to have, the logic he wanted to throw at me. He wanted to tell me I was being ridiculous. That I was making it harder than it needed to be. But I didn’t let him.

“They wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I admitted, my voice softer now, the weight of the truth pressing against my ribs.

“What?”

I watched the way his expression shifted between shock and anger.

“They offered to move you with me to San Francisco,” I said. “They offered a full relocation package. Said if moving was the problem, they’d make it disappear. ”

Evan’s breath caught. He took a small step back like he needed distance, like the information was physically pushing him away. I hated that.

“And you didn’t tell me?” His voice was different now, low, quiet, but edged with something raw, something wounded.

“No,” I said, holding his look, refusing to look away. “Because that wasn’t what I wanted.”

Evan let out a rough, humorless laugh and shook his head. “Jesus, Noah.” He looked back at me, his jaw tight. “You didn’t think maybe that was something I should’ve had a say in?”

My chest ached, guilt curling inside me like smoke. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t want to fix anything, Evan. I didn’t want to present you with some perfect solution like you were just another problem to be solved.”

Evan’s breath was shallow, his chest rising and falling in uneven beats as my words hung between us.

I stepped closer. “No,” I said, my voice quieter now.

Steadier. “That wasn’t what I wanted.” I took a slow breath, searching his face, willing him to see the truth in mine.

“I want you. I want to be with you.” My voice wavered, but I pushed through.

“I want to love you. I want my life with you.” I stepped closer still, our bodies nearly touching, the warmth of him pulling me in like gravity.

“I want my life with you here. In Havenwood. With you. With our friends.”

A muscle in Evan’s jaw twitched, his hazel eyes burned into mine, unflinching and searching.

“Then that’s on you, Noah.” His voice wasn’t angry, not exactly. But it wasn’t soft either. It was raw, threaded with something like exhaustion. Like he had spent weeks feeling everything I had spent weeks trying to avoid. “You not having everything you worked for is not my fault.”

I looked him right in the eyes. “I never said it was, Evan.”

Something shifted, but he didn’t say anything.

So, I waited.

For once in my goddamn life, I waited.

Evan stared at me, the space between us charged with all the things we had left unsaid for too long.

“They came back to me again,” I said, my voice steadier now. “Told me to name my price.” I hesitated, my pulse thrumming against my ribs. “So, I took a chance.”

Evan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at me. “What did you say? ”

My hands ached to reach for him, to ground myself in the solid warmth of his body, but I held back.

“I told them I’d only take the job if I could work remotely from Havenwood. If they’d put the moving budget toward my travel expenses instead.” I paused, the next words settling in my throat. “I told them my home was Havenwood.”

His lips parted slightly.

I finally reached out, my fingers ghosting over the inside of his wrist before gripping around it gently. He didn’t pull away.

“My home is you.”

Evan let out a shaky breath, his body rigid beneath my touch, like he was fighting every instinct he had to just let go, to let himself believe in this, in me. I could feel it. The hesitation. The fear. The hope.

And then he whispered, “Say that again.”

I squeezed his wrist; my thumb tracing circles against his skin. He didn’t pull away.

“My home is you, Evan.”

A tear began to roll down his cheek.

“I love you, Evan.” My voice was confident and solid. “I love you, and I don’t want to spend another second pretending that I don’t. I’m yours. If you want me.”

Evan stared at me like he was searching for something. For the truth in my words. For proof that this wasn’t another moment where I would get scared and run.

Finally, he let out a soft, almost breathless laugh, “That’s my line.”

He raked his hands through his hair before letting them drop to his sides. His lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes dark with something I couldn’t quite name. Frustration? Longing? Maybe both. Probably both.

Then, he huffed and shook his head. “This was so much easier when I was mad at you.”

A small, unsteady smile tugged at my lips. “Yeah?”

His face turned up to meet mine, something softer in the way he looked at me now, the rough edges dulled just slightly. “Yeah.” His voice was quieter this time, more raw, as if saying it out loud made it more real. More dangerous.

And then, quieter still, like a confession only meant for the river to hear:

“I love you too, you infuriating, emotionally stunted nerd.”

Then his hands were in my hair, tugging me forward, and his lips crashed against mine .

It wasn’t careful. It wasn’t soft. It was everything.

It was weeks of unsaid things, of longing and ache, of stolen glances and missed chances.

It was frustration and relief tangled together; his grip dug into my scalp like he was trying to anchor himself to me.

Like he wasn’t sure if I’d still be here when he pulled away.

I was.

Because this time, there is no running.

I kissed him back with everything I had. My hands gripped his waist, pulling him closer, closer, closer, until I could feel the way his chest rose against mine, his heartbeat slamming in rhythm with my own.

Finally, breathless, Evan broke the kiss but kept his forehead resting against mine.

His voice was low, steady. “I owe you an apology, Noah. I let us down. I let other people get in my head. I listened to Callie, Sam, hell, even Jules. I let their voices drown out what I knew in here.” He pressed his hand flat against his chest. “I didn’t trust myself.

And that wasn’t fair. You deserved better than that. We both did.”

I closed my eyes for a second. When I opened them again, he was still there, still looking at me like he meant it. “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear you say that,” I said, my voice rough. “I kept thinking I had to fix everything myself.”

Evan shook his head, his thumb brushing lightly along my jaw. “You don’t. I played a role in this not working before. I see now how much I put on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

There was a pause, and something softer passed between us as the quiet stretched.

“And for what it’s worth,” Evan continued, “I know Liam and Elliott are your friends. They’ve had your back through all of this.

But they’ve had mine too. They helped me reframe things without ever making it about your business.

They didn’t betray you, Noah. They protected both of us. I’m really damn grateful for that.”

I swallowed hard, the words hitting deeper than I expected.

“And… what you shared about Mark,” he added, his voice gentler now. “I know that couldn’t have been easy. Being that vulnerable. Letting me see that part of you. Thank you. For trusting me.”

For a beat, we just breathed together, the night quiet around us except for the steady rhythm of the river, like the world was giving us space to let the truth settle.

“So, what now?” I asked, my voice softer, unsure.

Evan smiled, that real, unguarded one I’d missed. “Now? We figure it out. Together. No more running. No more letting other people write our story. ”

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Together.”

And for the first time, it felt like we meant it.