Joel doesn’t acknowledge any of this.
He stays exactly where he is, forehead still resting against mine, gaze locked on me like he’s waiting for something.
A decision.
A sign.
Ayes.
I blink again.
Something about Lily and London feels…off.
Not in a bad way.
Not in a way that makes me second-guess Joel or this moment.
But enough that my instincts hum with awareness.
They’re covering.
For what, I have no idea.
But right now?
I can’t focus on anything except Joel.
I swallow hard, my hands still tangled in his shirt, my breath still unsteady.
Upstairs.
The word echoes in my head, but not in the way it should.This isn’t about a party, about going somewhere to celebrate.This is about something else entirely.
And I don’t know what’s waiting for me up there.
But for the first time, I don’t need to.
I trust him.
Not in the way I used to—when trust felt like a fragile, dangerous thing.Something that could be given too easily and taken away just as fast.
No, this trust is different.It’s heavier, more real.
My stomach flips again, not from fear or doubt, but from something that feels dangerously close to anticipation.
Joel’s fingers flex slightly, his grip tightening for the briefest second—like he can feel the moment tipping, like he knows I’m on the edge of something big.
And maybe I am.
Maybe this is the moment I stop running.
Maybe this is the moment I finally,finallylet myself believe this could be real.
For a split second, I think about what happens next.
Not just tonight.Not just upstairs.
Everything.