Something about his earlier confession— about his family, his mother, his pain— had cracked a part of me I didn’t realize was so fragile. Before I could think, before my pride could scream at me to stop, I reached across the small space and took his hand. My fingers curled around his, and I could feel the tension in him ease, like that one touch broke through the armour he didn’t let anyone near.
His eyes flickered in surprise, but they softened, the darkness in them shifting into something almost reverent.
And then… My lips crashed into his, I kissed him.
It was reckless, heat-of-the-moment insanity.
It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t calculated. It was pure instinct— a pull I couldn’t fight. My lips pressed against his, tentative, testing the dangerous waters I swore I’d never drown in.
F
