"I feel it too," she blurts, her chest deflating like she's been holding it in. "And I shouldn't because… you're my boss, and I just got out of a relationship. Plus, there's Ruthie, and—"
"I know," I say, dropping my forehead to hers. "It's still complicated."
She inhales deeply. "Exactly."
I pull back, and every inch of space feels wrong. But I have to know.
“Trevor…” I start. Tess’s face drains of color so fast it makes my stomach turn.
“It’s over,” she says immediately. “I told you that at the hotel.” She shifts so she’s fully facing me. “I would never have kissed you inthe first place if—”
“I’m not saying that.” I shake my head, my heart still rattling in my chest. “But I can’t even consider this if that’s not done completely, Tess—if there’s any chance you still have feelings for him.”
Color rushes back into her cheeks, a red-hot flash replacing the pallor. “Liam, trust me. Whatever little feelings I had for Trevor disappeared the moment I caught him with his coworker on her knees.”
“What?” I snap, rage ripping through me before I can stop it.
Tess rolls her eyes. “We’d basically broken up a few hours earlier, so technically it wasn’t cheating. If anything, he did me a favor and proved I made the right decision. But it was over long before that.”
My head spins—my insides somehow calm and enraged at the same time. “I thought you guys had just moved in together.”
She exhales, like she’s only now accepting the truth herself. “We did… sort of.” She nods toward the building. “But everything I have at your place right now? That’s all I brought with me to his too.”
My mind flashes back to the day she started staying with us. “A suitcase and a couple of duffel bags worth?”
She nods, her lips tight. “I think I knew all along it wasn’t going to work.”
“Then why did you…” My words trail off, unable to make sense of it.
Tessa toys with the strings of her hoodie, then shrugs. “He asked me to." She drops the yarn and her shoulders. "And at the time, saying yes felt… easier, ya know? Like it wasn't hurting anyone.”
I tip my chin up, sucking my teeth. “Sort of like with us?”
She hesitates—thinking through her response, or fighting it. “No," she finally answers definitively. Her voice softens. "Nothing like this."
Just like that, the weight I’ve been carrying loosens. I inhale deeply, my lungs grateful for the air. I don’t know why I trust Tessa’s answer, but I do. I needed to know Trevor was gone for good, and that with everything else going against us, I didn't need the idea of them getting back together looming in my mind.
We're both adults. We both have history. Hers includes a douchy ex that seems to have been less of a threat than I thought, and mine? Well, mine stars a one-night-stand that ended with a knock at my door—and a daughter for life.
Both are in the past.
And maybe that shouldn’t be enough for me.
But it is.
"Just tell me one thing…"
She stills, waiting.
"Did you mean it?" She searches my eyes for an explanation until I offer one. "When you said you care about both of us… Did you mean it?"
She visibly relaxes for the first time since this conversation started. "Of course."
My lips rush to hers—just once—but it's firm and steady and filled with promise. And damn—it feels right.
"Let's get your stuff," I say facing forward again, channeling all of my energy into gripping the handle of the door.
Her eyes flutter open, confusion etched into her brow.
