Ezra’s POV
I had imagined this moment more times than I cared to admit. I had imagined leaning in first. I had imagined asking her. I had imagined losing my nerve again but what I had not imagined was Liora kissing me first.
For a fraction of a second, I froze, not because I did not want it, but because I could not believe she was choosing me. Her lips were warm and sure, soft but not hesitant. There was no uncertainty in the way she moved. No question.
She was not testing the moment she was claiming it and that changed everything. Whatever doubts I had been holding onto, whatever careful restraint I had wrapped around myself for years, shattered in that instant. It did not matter who leaned in first. I had come into this room knowing I wanted to finish what we had almost started in the
