When it was over, I laid there half-curled against him, my cheek resting over his heartbeat while his fingers lazily traced patterns against my bare shoulder.
Neither of us said anything for a long time.
We didn’t have to.
The room was still.
The city outside was quiet.
And his heartbeat under my ear was the steadiest sound I had ever heard.
Finally, his lips brushed my temple.
“You okay?” he asked again, voice rougher now.
I smiled into his skin.
“I’m really okay.”
His arm tightened around me.
Then, after a pause—
“Good.”
I tipped my chin up just enough to look at him.
He was already looking down at me.
Hair a mess.
Eyes softer than I’d ever seen them.
Like whatever walls he’d spent his whole life building had all quietly collapsed tonight and he wasn’t even mad about it.
