Page 108 of The Prime-Time Experiment

Riley stayed perfectly still.

“I didn’t chase you because I knew you needed space,” he admitted. “And I knew if I pushed too hard, you’d disappear completely.” His gaze held hers. “But not knowing if you were ever coming back…”

He stopped briefly, swallowing hard. “I’ve never cared about someone enough for it to hurt like that before.”

A faint, tired smile touched the corner of his mouth. “And I know I’m not exactly built for this kind of speech.” Another small pause. “You’re definitely not built for dramatic declarations either.”

Under any other circumstance, Riley thought she might have smiled. Declan looked at her like nothing else in the room existed.

“But I don’t think I get to avoid saying something just because it scares me.” The room felt impossibly still.

“I’m in love with you, Riley Lorrent.”

The words weren’t grand or polished, but they were the most beautiful words Riley Lorrent had and would ever hear.

“I was falling in love with you long before any of this got messy. Before you left.” His thumb moved slowly across her knuckles. “And I’m not saying it because I expect you to say it back. I just think you deserve to know what it is I’m choosing.”

His gaze never left hers. “I love the way your brain works, even when you drive me insane with it.” A soft breath of amusement escaped him. “I love the way you notice things no one else does. The way you mean every single thing you say.”

Riley’s throat tightened painfully. “And when you trust someone…” He shook his head slightly. “You give them your entire heart and soul, which I know is hard for you.”

His fingers threaded more firmly through hers. “I love that you challenge me. That you don’t just tell people what they want to hear because it’s easier.” His expression softened. “Most people back down from me eventually, you never do.”

Emotion caught unevenly in his throat before he pushed through it. “And I love that you keep trying,” he said quietly. “Even when everything overwhelms you, even when disappearing would probably feel easier.”

Riley felt herself beginning to come apart at the edges. “I don’t need the polished version of you,” he continued softly. “I don’t need you calm all the time or perfectly put together. I want you when it’s hard too.”

Every word felt deliberately chosen.

“I want you when you’re overwhelmed, when you don’t know how to explain what’s happening inside your own head.” His thumb brushed slowly over her skin again. “When you need space, I’ll give it to you. When you need grounding, I’ll be there.”

His jaw tightened slightly. “But I’m not leaving just because loving you takes work. Nothing worth having doesn’t.”

Riley’s vision blurred completely now, tears slipping free before she could stop them. Declan looked at her like she was something unbearably precious.

“I don’t need a version of you that’s easier to love,” he said softly. “I just need you.”

The last of his restraint broke with it. His breath caught unevenly, and a tear slipped free down his face before he could stop it. The sight of it undid her completely.

Riley moved before she could think herself out of it, leaning forward instantly where he knelt in front of her. Her hand found his jaw first, trembling slightly against his skin, and then she kissed him.

It was soft at first. Careful only for the space of a heartbeat before emotion overtook caution entirely. Declan made a quiet, broken sound against her mouth, one hand rising instinctively to hold the side of her face like he needed to feel that she was real.

Riley kissed him again, deeper this time, every feeling she hadn’t known how to say pouring into it instead. Relief. Want. Love. The unbearable ache of almost losing him.

Declan kissed her back like he’d been holding himself still for too long.

The angle became awkward almost immediately with him still on his knees between hers, but neither of them seemed capable of pulling away long enough to care. Riley half-laughed through a shaky breath against his mouth as her balance shifted forward, and the next second she was moving with him, following him down onto the floor without resistance.

Declan caught her automatically, one arm wrapping tightly around her waist to stop her hitting the ground too hard as they landed together beside the chair. Riley ended up half on top of him, tangled against his chest, and for the first time in weeks neither of them tried to create distance.

She buried herself into him.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders, holding onto him with a desperation she no longer had the energy to hide. Declan held her just as fiercely, his face pressed briefly into the side of her neck as his breathing shook unevenly against her skin.

Neither of them spoke. They just stayed there on the floor together, holding onto each other like they’d both finally found something they thought was gone for good.

Then Riley broke. The sobs came quietly at first, slipping free without resistance as her face pressed harder into his shoulder. Her breathing faltered with them, uneven not from panic this time, but from the sheer force of everything hitting her all at once.