She doesn’t look away.
“I finally feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Her breath catches, our eyes still connected.
Silence stretches between us as she takes in everything I just admitted.
“I feel it too,” she whispers.
Is my brain malfunctioning, or did she just agree with me?
“But it terrifies me,” she admits.
“Why?” I ask, shifting closer.
“Because all I can think about is the first time I was kicked out and left alone. What if that happens again? What if your father offers you so much money you can’t turn it down? What if you realize we aren’t what you want? What if that’s all because of—”
“Tiff.” I cut her off, gently taking her hands and intertwining our fingers. “I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you ask me to.”
She looks down at our joined hands. “How can you be so sure? You barely know me or Ella.”
“I know enough,” I say simply. “I know you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. That night in the library was the moment everything changed for me.Youchanged everything for me without knowing or trying.”
“That was years ago.”
“Do you want to hear about now? Because now it’s even clearer. Seeing you taking care of our perfect daughter only emphasizes how much I—” I stop myself from going too far. “—how much I missed. When I’m with the two of you, everythingelse—the money, my father, all of it—seems insignificant. All I care about is making you both smile.”
She keeps her focus on our hands, so I rub her palm with my thumb, holding back the words I really want to say. The ones that feel too soon, and not enough at the same time.
“I’m scared,” she whispers.
“Me too,” I admit. “Terrified, actually. Have been since I walked away from my family.”
“See. That’s what I mean. You’re scared of being away from them.”
She doesn’t get it, and I can’t blame her.
I lean my forehead against hers, forcing her to look up at me. “No. That’s not why I was terrified. Leaving them felt liberating. Seeing your face and realizing that I might never be able to fix what was broken terrified me. Believing that you both might not let me be there for you scared me more than any threat my father could use. Thinking you might have found another man, a better one to love you and take my place terrified me—”
I don’t get to finish because Tiff’s lips are on mine.
What the fuck is happening?
She’s kissing me. She’s fucking kissing me, and for half a second. my mind goes completely blank.
Fuck.
Think, Jamie.
Fucking think.
I unclasp our hands and cup her cheek, grounding myself in the warmth of her skin as I kiss her back slowly, letting her take the lead because last time she pulled away after a few seconds.
When she presses her lips more firmly to mine, I tilt my head, deepening the kiss.
Her hand slides from my wrist to my chest, her fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt just as her tongue brushes against my bottom lip.
Then all my self-restraint breaks.