The problem is, cold stopped being the issue the second she walked into the room wearing my shirt and looking at me like that.
Still, I force myself upright slowly.
“You sure?”
The fact that I ask seems to affect her. I see it happen in real time. Something cautious inside her easing slightly.
“Yes,” she says softly. “I’m sure.”
I follow her down the hallway feeling like a man willingly walking toward his own destruction.
The bed is small but warm from body heat and thick blankets. London climbs beneath the quilt before looking back at me expectantly.
After a moment of hesitation, I slide into bed beside her carefully, keeping distance between us even though every instinct I have is screaming to close it.
For a minute, neither of us speaks.
The mattress dips softly beneath our combined weight .
“Sorry,” she murmurs.
I turn toward her immediately. “For what?”
She blinks. “What?”
“You apologized.”
“Oh.” She shrugs slightly beneath the blankets. “Habit, I guess.”
Something about the way she says it twists hard in my chest.
“You apologize a lot,” I say quietly.
London stares up at the ceiling for several long seconds before answering.
“My ex used to hate when I took up space.”
The words land heavily between us. I stay silent. Not because I don’t care.
Because I do.
Enough that I already know if she says the wrong thing next, I might drive down this mountain tomorrow and introduce myself to her ex personally.
“He didn’t say it like that exactly,” she says softly. “At least not at first. It was more…” She laughs quietly, but there’s no humor in it. “‘Do you really need all this?’ ‘Why are you making such a big deal out of everything?’ ‘You’re too emotional.’”
Anger burns low and immediate in my chest. London keeps talking quietly into the darkness.
“I spent so much time trying to become easier. Quieter. Less work.” She swallows hard. “Eventually I think he got tired of me trying and just decided it would be simpler to buy me out of the business.”
Something sharp moves through me at the hurt she’s trying so hard to hide.
I roll onto my side before I can stop myself. “London?”
Her eyes lift hesitantly.
“You don’t have to make yourself smaller to deserve staying.”
The room goes completely still. London’s breath catches softly. The look on her face nearly undoes me.