Maya's Pov
Instead, she said: "You're the person I love."
The words emerged unplanned.
Unfiltered. The first time she'd named it, the first time she'd dared to claim the feeling that had been building since the seat, since the courtyard, since the cabin where rain made the world small enough to be honest.
Adrian turned. The expression on his face — shock, grief, something that might have been hope if hope hadn't been burned out of him too many times before — made her want to take the words back. To protect him from their weight. To manage his response the way she'd been managing everything else.
"Love," he repeated. Not a question. A test.
"Yes."
"Love without trust?"
"Love while I earn it back." She reached for his hand. He didn't pull away, but he didn't interlace their fingers
