This was temporary.
It had to be.
I had a return flight in a little over a week.
An office to run.
A house…well, it was my condo overlooking the sparkling blue water of Florida.
A life built on structure and self-containment.
Fifi was anythingbutcontained.
She was loud, laughing, and full of too much heart. She snorted when she laughed too hard and kept snacks in her truck, as if they were survival gear. She jumped headfirst into every moment like it might be the one that changed her life.
And somehow, impossibly, she made me feel like maybe I could do the same.
She shifted slightly, murmuring something incoherent, and I looked down to find her blinking up at me.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey,” I said back, voice rough.
She stretched, arms brushing along my side, and winced as her elbow hit the truck bed wall. “Ow.”
“Pretty sure I bruised my knees on the tailgate latch.”
She smiled sleepily. “Worth it?”
I paused and winked. “Yeah.”
The smile grew. “Good.”
We fell into silence again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
It was warm.
I could feel her heartbeat against my chest.
Her breath eased into mine.
And with every passing second, I realized something bone-deep and terrifying.
I didn’twantthis to be temporary.
Not anymore.
But the moment I started to form that thought into something real, something that lived outside of kisses and midnight campfires, my chest tightened.
Because what was I supposed to do?
Tell her I wanted more?
That I was halfway to rearranging my life because her smile had rerouted my entire compass?
She deserved someone who wasn’t stuck halfway between guilt and longing. Someone who could show up for her without wondering if he was capable of holding onto something thisgood.
I was quiet for too long.
