Lucas’s POV
The words hung in the cooling water between us, heavy and sharp.
“Avela, there’s something I have to tell you.”
She lifted her head slowly from my shoulder, her eyes still soft and hazy from what we’d just shared. A small, sleepy smile tugged at her lips. She looked so damn beautiful like this—flushed, relaxed, completely unguarded—that my throat closed up for a second.
I swallowed hard.
“I know I should’ve told you a long time ago,” I started, my voice low, rough. “But I was just so f*****g scared.”
Her brows pulled together a little, confusion flickering in those dark eyes I loved so much. She shifted slightly in my lap, and I felt her body tense—just a fraction—but it was enough to make my stomach twist.
“Scared of what?” she murmured, her hand coming up to rest again
