Page 131 of Every Shattered Note
“It is.”
Her brow lifts, curious.“Why?”
“Because you might decide this was just one night.”My voice cracks on that last word.I force myself to hold her gaze.“Because I haven’t had the chance to convince you it doesn’t have to be.”
She exhales, but it’s not annoyed.It’s something softer.Something in between acceptance and resistance.
“You think you can convince me?”
“I know I can try.”
“You’re impossible,” she says, but there’s no venom in it.
“Persistent,” I offer instead.
She laughs.Quiet, low.It winds around my ribs and lodges there.
“Same thing.”
We stay like that, suspended in something I don’t want to define yet.Her fingers trace slow circles over my chest.My hand rests against the curve of her spine, memorizing her.Not in a possessive way.Just ...in case I never get to again.
There’s a familiarity here that doesn’t make sense.Like we’ve done this before in a different life.Or like the universe has been pulling us back together every time we slipped away.
Eventually, she sits up.The sunlight moves with her, turning her hair into a halo I’ll never be holy enough to deserve.She yawns, reaches for the glass of water on the nightstand.My shirt slips off her shoulder, revealing skin I kissed—devoured—last night.
She catches me staring.
“You keep looking at me like that,” she murmurs, voice still coated in sleep, “and I’m never leaving this bed.”
“That’s sort of the plan.”
“Dexter ...”
Her tone is warning.But her smile gives her away.
“Five more minutes,” I bargain.
“You’re impossible before coffee.”
“Correction—until coffee.”
“Good thing I know how to make it.”She grins.
Her body folds into mine like we’ve been built for this.Like she’s the pause between heartbeats—barely there, but impossible to live without.
“Coffee can wait.”
“Oh?”Her brow arches, feigning innocence.“What takes priority?”
“Making it official.”
She blinks.“What?”
“The date.”
Her face shifts, something almost shy flashing in her eyes.“You still want that?”
“I want a lot of things,” I admit, my voice low.“But the date’s a good place to start.It’s the first one.”
