It wasn’t the view from the window I’d meant to draw.
It was Theo, head bent, expression intent, light tracing his jawline.
I’d poured care, reverence, and longing into every line.
I stared at it for a long time before closing the sketchbook.
That was the day I knew.
Not because of what I saw, but because of how it made me feel, as though something inside me had clicked into place.
Theo Sinclair had become the measure by which I understood every other kind of wanting that came after.
A thing I would never admit to while there was breath in my body.
Present
If the last few days had taught me anything, it was that Theo and I were moving toward something neither of us knew how to name.
I inhaled, exhaled. I’d give Theo all the time and space he needed. I’d be patient. But I wouldn’t disappear. I wouldn’t fold myself smaller just because Theo had ghosts.
And I wouldn’t let this evening turn into distance that couldn’t be closed again.
Whatever had happened to Theo before—whoever had made him flinch at kindness—I would never be that person.
I looked toward Theo’s bedroom door, my throat tight.
I’m not giving up on you. I’m not going anywhere.
The door opened, and Theo stood there.
He swallowed. “Can we talk?”
Chapter Twelve
Cameron
I sat up straighter. “Of course.”
Theo stood with his hands in the pockets of his joggers, his shoulders slanted. His hair was slightly mussed, as though he’d run his fingers through it too many times.
He looks tired.
Theo stepped into the room but didn’t sit or move closer to me. He expelled a long, shuddering breath.
“I shouldn’t have reacted that way.” There was a stiffness to his words. “It wasn’t about you.” Theo’s jaw clenched. “I… wasn’t expecting it. The touch. I was working and?—”
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” I said in a low voice. “Honestly.”
“You didn’t,” Theo said, too quickly. I arched my eyebrows, and Theo winced at his own contradiction. “I mean, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was my reaction. My fault.”
I curled my fingers around the edge of my sketchbook. “It didn’t feel like that.”
Theo shut his eyes for a second. “I don’t know how to—” Those last few words felt like broken glass.
I leaned forward. “Theo… it’s okay if something scared you.”
Theo’s posture tightened like wire pulled too quickly, and I knew I’d made the wrong move.