Page 270 of No Need to Run
He exhales, his hold on me loosening. “Yeah.”
I move my hand, resting it lightly over his heart.
His body reacts immediately. His heart rate increases. His eyes focus on me.
“You ground me,” he murmurs.
I relish in his attention, glad to have it all on me again. Where it should be.
“She doesn’t understand you,” I say.
There’s something in his expression—uncertainty, maybe.
“I don’t think I understood myself back then either,” he admits.
That shouldn’t matter. But it does.
He stayed with her. Even when she didn't see him.
My fingers press lightly over his heart. “I do.”
His breath shifts.
He pulls back slightly, a questioning look on his face.
I need to tell him.
“What is it?” he asks.
I tilt my head, then just say the words. “We met before.”
His brows pull together. “What?”
I let the moment stretch before I begin explaining.
“We were younger,” I say quietly.
His expression shifts immediately. Attention sharpening.
“I was in college,” I continue. “Nineteen. Nervous. Completely in my own head.”
I let out a soft breath, the memory settling in.
“I had an internship meeting that morning. Something I’d been working toward for months.” A faint smile touches my lips. “And I was running late. Which wasn’t like me.”
His gaze stays on me as he listens intently.
“I stepped off the curb without looking.”
His posture changes slightly as if he remembers the moment.
“I saw the car at the last second,” I continue. “And I remember thinking… this is it.”
His jaw tightens, a flash of fear mixing with possessiveness.
“You grabbed my arm,” I say softly. “Pulled me back onto the sidewalk.”
I can still feel the pressure. The steadiness.
