TESSA POV
I never imagined I'd feel this kind of warmth in the middle of a cold night.
Not from the spring breeze brushing through the trees. Not from the pale silver glow of the moon casting soft shadows on the flowered path ahead of us.
No.
It was him.
Gunter.
His hand holding mine, hesitant but warm and steady. His voice, low and broken when he said he understood why I’d asked to talk. Why I’d asked to walk into the woods alone with him.
“I get it,” he said. “I’m scary. I’m a hybrid. I didn’t exactly make the best first impression…”
And my heart cracked open in a way I hadn’t expected.
He thought I brought him here to reject him.
He thought I didn’t want him.
Oh Goddess. Had I really made him feel that?
The realization knocked the air out of me. It was like looking into a mi
