“Because this building has been mine for seven years and in the last few days it has felt, for the first time, like somewhere I actually live.”
A beat.
“That’s you.”
Her eyes were very bright.
“That’s not fair,” she whispered.
“No,” I agreed. “It’s not.”
She looked up at me; jaw still set, eyes still wet, still deciding whether to be furious or devastated or something else entirely.
I closed the distance.
Not fast. Not demanding. Just… closing it, the way the bond had been asking me to close it every single day.
I brought my hand up to her jaw the way I’d stopped myself from doing every time before being unable to restrain myself…
And I kissed her.
Soft. Certain. Unhurried.
She went completely still for exactly one second.
Then she kissed me back.
And it wasn't soft an
