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I shook my head, and when she started to walk again, I gently wrapped my hand around the collar of my jacket and brought her to a halt. Then, I leaned over her shoulder, casting a larger-than-life shadow on the ground that covered hers completely.
Bringing my lips to her ear, I whispered. "No."
Her breath hitched. "No?"
"No. I’m not admitting that because I don’t think you are. That’s not how I see you."
She turned to face me and looked up, her eyes searched mine, wide and vulnerable. "And how do you see me?"
I swallowed hard, the air between us thickening. "I see you a lot of ways... but right now, the biggest thing I see is that you’re scared."
"What?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "No, I’m not."
"You are," I said softly, stepping even closer, putting us barely an inch apart now. "I think you’re scared that I don’t think you’re too much, and you’re not sure how to handle that."
Dakota’s lips parted slightly, her breath catching in her throat. The tension between us crackled, the air around us humming with the pulse of these whispered words, feelings being acknowledged that we were still halfway trying to fight.
She blinked, her eyes locking onto mine, her voice barely above a whisper. "And what areyouscared of?"
"You," I answered, my voice low, rough.
And then, before I could stop myself, I leaned in and kissed her.
17?/?
tucker
The second our lips touched, everything else faded away. The world, the maze, the stars—all of it dissolved into the background. Her lips were soft and warm against mine, and the way she kissed me back... it was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
This wasn’t just a kiss. It was more. From the moment her breath mingled with mine, and I pulled her in, something inside me shifted—something I hadn’t seen coming.
My hand slid down to cup the back of her neck, fingers threading through the loose strands of hair peeking out from under the collar of my jacket, which practically swallowed her. The jacket hung loosely around her frame, too big for her by miles, and right now, it was a barrier that I regretted putting between us.
The heat of her mouth against mine, the soft gasp that escaped her lips when I deepened the kiss... It was all consuming, pulling me under like I’d never been kissed before. This wasn’t just a kiss; it was the kind that shook you, made you forget everything else. It unraveled me in ways I wasn’t ready for, and yet, I couldn’t stop.
My hands moved on their own, sliding into the jacket and down to her waist, pulling her closer. She lifted onto her tiptoes,trying to meet me in the middle of our height difference. I could feel her fingers gripping the sleeves of the jacket as her hands rested against my chest, clutching them like she was anchoring herself to the moment. Or maybe… to me. I wasn’t sure, but I felt her everywhere.
She was warm, soft, and something about this—abouther—was different from anything I’d ever experienced. I was a tall guy, and I’d always been conscious of the space I took up, but right now, every inch of me felt like I was made for her. Despite how naturally small she felt compared to me, having her tucked into my arms like she belonged there made me feel something dangerous, something I didn’t think I’d ever be capable of feeling.
And the way she was still kissing me back—matching every bit of my intensity like she needed this as much as I did—was wrecking me.
This wasn’t a casual kiss, the kind you could shrug off later and chalk up to a fling or a one-time thing. I couldn’t think about the case, the job, or the fact that I wasn’t staying. All I could think about was her, and the way she made me feel grounded and off-kilter at the same time, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, yet completely out of control. My grip tightened on her waist, and her fingers curled into the too-long sleeves of my jacket, pulling me closer.
The kiss eventually slowed, softened, but I couldn’t bring myself to put too much space between us.
Not yet.
When our mouths finally parted, our foreheads rested together and our breaths came in short, quiet puffs of air. My hand came up to cradle her neck, my thumb brushing lightly against her cheek.
She didn’t step back, and I just stood there, staring down at her, my breath mingling with hers in the cool night air. I wantedto memorize her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips parted as she blinked up at me, searching my eyes like she was waiting for me to say something—anything.
But what could I say? That I was sorry for being so wrong about whatever this was between us? I’d told her we should see where this thing between us might go. But this? This was too much. So much more than I was prepared for. Whatever was brewing here wasn’t something that left room for uncertainty. It was something that made meknow.I knew she fit—that we fit. And I didn’t have a clue what to do about it.
She was wrapped up in my jacket, which hung off her frame like a blanket, but she was still looking at me with that fire in her eyes—the kind that told me she wasn’t one to back down from anything, even the intensity of this moment.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t know what to do next.
She licked her lips, and the sight of it sent a surge of heat through me as the quiet between us stretched out. I wasn’t ready to let go of this moment, this feeling that we’d crossed a line we could never uncross.
