God, I could barely focus on the names I was signing. My chest ached with every glimpse of her. The way her hair fell in her face. The way she smiled at people — kind and bright andnot for me.
And she didn’t look at me. Not once.
Two fucking weeks without a word, and now she was standing ten feet away like we were strangers. By the time the last fan left, my chest felt like it was going to cave in.
Matt packed up the pens and clapped me on the shoulder. “Outstanding event, man. I’ll see you later?” He nodded toward where Juniper stood with a wink and a grin, as if he knewexactlywhat he was implying.
“Yeah.” My voice was dead. “I’ll find my way home.” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.
“Get some sleep, alright?”
I didn’t answer.
The door shut behind him.
And then it was just her.
She was stacking books that didn’t need stacking, pretending like she didn’t feel me watching her.
I moved. Feet following a path I neverhadto memorize. My body knew the way to her. As the space between us grew smaller, my heart beat faster. I wanted to scream, to shout, tocry.But more than any of that — I wanted to hold her. To smell her hair, to kiss her forehead and feel the warmth of her skin against mine.
“Say something.”
She blinked, startled. “What?”
“Anything.” My voice was low, raw. “Because I’m two seconds from losing my goddamn mind watching you pretend I’m not standing right here.”
Her lips parted, but nothing came out.
“Two weeks, Juniper.” My hands curled into fists at my sides. “Two weeks of silence. Aftereverything. You ruined me in that hotel room, and then you vanished like none of it meant a damn thing?”
“I—”
“No.” I stepped closer, close enough to see the way her chestrose too fast, her fingers twitching against the counter like she wanted to grab on to something.
“I need you to tell me why. Why do you keep running when I’m standing right here, begging you without even saying it?”
Her throat bobbed; her eyes glistened.
“I didn’t mean?—”
“Didn’t meanwhat?” I snapped. “Didn’t mean to let me fall in love with you? Didn’t mean to make me think this wasreal?”
“Ansel—”
“God, June.” My laugh cracked in half, ugly and sharp. “I wake up every morning hoping you’ll call. I fall asleep every night wondering what the hell I did wrong. And then I come here, and you’re just — what? Acting like I’m no one to you?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and that wrecked me. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “It scares me.Youscare me, Ansel.”
“Yeah?” I stepped in close enough that our chests almost brushed. “Well, so am I. Because this—” I grabbed her hand, pressed it flat against my chest so she could feel how fast my heart was beating. “—is the only thing that’s felt right in a long fucking time. And I don’t know how to stop wanting you, even when you make me feel like I’m nothing to you.”
Her breath hitched.
“Say something.Please.”
Her lips parted like she might speak, but nothing came out. Just wide, wet eyes and the sharp rise and fall of her chest.
The silence gutted me.
