"I think I'm done waiting," I say roughly. "I think I've been done waiting since I woke up and you were the only person sitting beside my bed in that hospital."
Her hands come up to rest on my chest, and I don't know if she's going to push me away or pull me in. My heart is hammering so hard she has to feel it under her palms.
"Colt..." Her voice is a whisper. "I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to let someone in without—"
"I know." I cup her face in both hands, tilting her chin up until her eyes meet mine. "I don't know how to do this either. But I want to try. With you."
Her eyes change as her features soften. The fear doesn't disappear, but something else rises up beside it.
"Then stop talking," she breathes, "and kiss me."
I don't need to be told twice.
My mouth finds hers and the world goes white.
The sound she makes against my lips is soft, desperate… a wrecked little gasp that nearly puts me on my knees. I kiss her harder, pulling her so close there's no space left between us. Her hands grip the front of my jacket like she's been fighting this as long as I have and that's when I know…
She'sdone.
She's as done as I am.
Her fingers twist into the fabric, yanking me closer, and I groan against her mouth. My tongue splits her lips open and I swipe it against hers, tasting her for the very first time.
When we finally break apart, we're both breathing like we just sprinted the length of the ice. Her hands are still knotted in my jacket and my forehead is pressed against hers.
For a long moment, neither of us says a word. My heart is slamming so hard I can hear it in my ears.
Then Zoey laughs.
"Well." She exhales against my lips. "I can't believe that just happened."
I grin, and the smile feels different than any I've worn before. Not crafted for cameras or locker rooms or the parents who never showed up.
Justhappy.
"Yeah," I murmur. "Me neither."
Her fingers loosen in my jacket but stay pressed against my chest, right over my heartbeat. Her cheeks are flushed. Her lipsare swollen. And she's biting the bottom one like she's trying to hold back a smile.
She'sglowing.
And the look she gives me says everything neither of us is ready to say out loud.
Yeah,I think, heart so full it might actually crack my ribs.
This is definitely something worth trying for.
Chapter 8
Zoey
"Oh,shit."
I bolt upright, tangled in the comforter, heart hammering.Shit.My alarm didn't go off.
The bakery. The ovens. The bread that should have gone inthree hours ago.
I grab my phone from the nightstand and the screen glares back at me.