Page 125 of Hold Me Tight

The memory of her in my bed still clings to me like smoke. The feel of her skin, the way she moaned my name, the trust in every sigh and arch of her body.

It all felt so damn real.

Although maybe not real enough.

I drag a hand through my hair and turn back toward the window, trying to breathe through the ache inside me, when I hear the arrival of the elevator. The sound slices through the silence like a gunshot, freezing me in place.

A second later, the doors glide open and Callie steps out. Her hair is pulled into a loose ponytail, and her cheeks are pink from the cold.

She looks tired.

Beautiful.

So achingly familiar, it knocks the air from me.

I want to wrap my arms around her and never let go.

Instead, I remain rooted in place. If this is the moment she’s come to say goodbye, I’ll need every shred of control I have left just to stand here and take it.

She meets my eyes from across the distance. There’s hesitation in hers. But also something steadier. A quiet kind of resolve I haven’t seen before.

“Where’s Nora?” I ask.

“With my parents. I needed to talk to you. Alone.”

My pulse stutters.

Well, fuck.

That can’t be good.

The need to be closer wins out, and I take a cautious step in her direction. “Are you okay?”

She nods just once. “I am now.”

Those three words nearly bring me to my knees.

But still, I don’t know where this is going. I don’t know if she’s here to stay or to say goodbye. And that uncertainty guts me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Adrenaline rushes through my veins. I don’t need her to explain the question. I already know what she means.

I take another step. “I never wanted you to feel like you owed me anything. If you chose me, it needed to be because your heart wouldn’t let you do anything else and the world feels quieter when we’re together. Because being with me feels as natural as breathing.”

Unable to help myself, I close the remaining distance between us. “I wanted it to be because you love me as much as I love you,” I say quietly.

And now I’m standing right in front of her.

When I look into her eyes, I see it.

Everything I’ve been hoping for.

Everything I’ve been afraid to believe in.

“I do love you,” she confesses.

I blink, almost afraid I imagined it. “You do?”