I don’t sleep. I just lie there. Holding her. Watching the ceiling. Trying to understand what just happened.
My chest feels different. Not tight. Full. Like something that was missing clicked into place and now everything fits.
I’ve never felt... this.
Like her breathing in my arms matters more than my own. Like leaving would be the worst mistake I could make.
I want to wrap myself around her and never let go.
After sex, I’m usually already planning my exit. Getting dressed while they’re still catching their breath. Gone before the awkward morning conversation.
But I want to be here when she wakes up. Want to see her face in the morning light. Want to make her coffee and make her eggs and hear her laugh at my terrible cooking.
Fuck. I’m in love with her.
The realization doesn’t come as a shock. It settles into place. Something that’s been true for a while, just waiting for me to notice.
I’m in love with Stevie Reeves.
The witness I was supposed to protect. The woman who makes me want to be better. Who just fell asleep in my arms like I’m someone worth trusting.
I’m so fucked. But holding her in the dark, listening to her breathe, I can’t bring myself to care.
Tomorrow I’ll figure out the rest. The Sal problem. The Dario situation. The impossible tangle of my life.
Tonight, I just want this. Her. Us.
I close my eyes and fall asleep with her heart beating against mine.
Morning comes too fast.
Gray light through the curtains. Her body warm against mine. The smell of her shampoo and sex and something I’m already thinking of as home.
She’s still asleep.
I don’t move. Don’t want to wake her. Just watch.
The way her lashes fan across her cheeks. The tiny furrow between her brows like she’s concentrating on something even in sleep. The curve of her lips, still slightly swollen from kissing.
She’s beautiful. She’s mine.
No. Not mine. Not just mine. There’s Dario. Maybe Saul. She doesn’t belong to me.
But lying here watching her sleep, I can pretend.
She stirs. Stretches. Her eyes flutter open.
“Hey,” she mumbles. Voice rough. Adorable.
“Hey.”
“You stayed.”
“I promised.”
She smiles. Slow and sleepy and just for me.
I kiss her. Morning breath and all. She makes a soft sound against my mouth.
