I stop about six feet away.
We look at each other.
“Okay,” he says. “Talk.”
I close the six feet.
He holds his ground, but I watch his eyes track the change in distance.
“I’m gay,” I say.
He blinks. Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it.
“You were right. I know what I am—I’ve known for a long time and I’ve been lying about it, and I’m done.” I hold his eyes. “I’m done lying…about any of it.”
“Rhett.”
“I love you.”
The words land in the parking lot air and stay there. Colt goes very still. The particular stillness that means something has gotten through, all the way down to your bones.
“You don’t get to say that,” he says, but his voice isn’t steady.
“Too bad. I said it.” I take the last step between us, and I put my hand against the brick wall of the building beside his head, leaning in until there’s almost nothing between us. “I drove two hours to say it. You can be pissed at me, you can make me earn itback, and you can take your time deciding what to do with it, but you’re going to stand there and hear it.”
His jaw is tight, and his breathing has changed. He’s not looking at my eyes, he’s looking at my mouth and then back up.
“You threw a punch at me,” he says.
“I know.”
“You said it meant nothing.”
I hold his gaze. “I was scared and I lied and I hurt you and I’m sorry. But I’m not scared anymore.”
“You’re not scared,” he repeats, his voice dropping.
“No.”
“Prove it,” he says.
I grab him by the front of his shirt and push him until his back hits the wall. I feel the impact go through him and I watch his breath leave his body, his eyes wide and dark.
There it is.
I’ve had months to learn his face, and what’s in his eyes right now is the specific type of heat of someone whose body has just gotten some very interesting information.
I keep him there, both hands in his shirt, my weight against him, close enough that he can feel every breath I take.
“Still want me to talk?” I ask.
“Rhett.” His voice is rough.
“Because I can keep talking.” I drop my mouth to his jaw, not quite touching. “Or we can do something else.”
He grabs the back of my neck and pulls me into a kiss that is nothing like the ones we’ve had before. Those were angry or desperate to prove something. This one is different. This one is two people who have stopped pretending.
I feel him make a sound against my lips that I’m going to think about for the rest of my life.
