Page 251 of Terms of Exposure
Trembling.
"Emma," he said softly.
"Damien," I said back with a smile.
"You've had my heart from the beginning," he continued, voice rough around the edges.
What the fuck is happening.
"Damien—"
"Let me finish." His hand found my chin, tilting my face to his. "I never thought I'd be capable of this. I'd convinced myself I wasn't built for it. That something in me was just… missing."
"But then I called Elion. And I heard your voice for the first time. Heard you say my name." His gaze searched mine. "And I knew, Emma. Right then. Before I'd ever seen your face. Before Marina's. Before it all."
"I told you that night," he said softly, "that seeing you on that app felt like divine intervention."
His mouth curved—not playful, not tentative. Certain.
"And now I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
"The way you lick cheese from your fingers when we eat pizza. The sound of your feet slapping the floor in that adorable way of yours. Your terrifying intelligence."
He stepped closer, the world narrowing to us.
"A future," he said quietly. "With you. Only you."
Then he kissed me.
Soft.Reverent.
Like I was something sacred he'd been trusted to hold.
When he pulled back—
"I love you."
Those words.
The ones I'd ached to hear. The ones I'd whispered into his chest a hundred times—in the dark, in the morning light, in the quiet moments between breaths—never expecting them back.
But now—
From his mouth.
In his voice.
For me.
My knees buckled.
His hands caught my waist, steadying me.
"You—" I pulled back, searching his face through blurred vision. "This is the best night of my life."
Damien smiled—slow, tender, devastating.
"I hope I can make it better."
