“Hayden…” I start, but he’s already moving, shoulders squared and shadows retreating at his heels as he slips from the room.
When I catch up to him, he’s standing at the edge of the dimly lit patio, his back straight, shadows spooling.
“Hayden?” I ask softly, stepping gently closer. “What’s wrong?”
He turns, uncertainty all over his face.
“I’m not entirely sure,” he admits, dragging a hand along his jaw. “I’m trying to understand what I’m doing here, Levi. With you. Meeting your family and friends. This whole evening.” His gray eyes flick, briefly, to the door we’d just come through, then back to me.
I swallow, inching closer. “You’re here because I want you here.”
An exhale escapes him. “It’s more complicated than that. I’ve stayed at the edges. Safe in the shadows while everyone else lived. And now…” He falters, voice nearing a breaking point. “Now, I’ve stepped out. And I don’t know where I stand. Or what we are. Especially when I see someone who could so easily be woven into your life. He belongs in ways I never have. And I…” He swallows hard, eyes dropping. “I don’t know if I ever will.”
My chest tightens with understanding. Hayden has always been strong and entirely contained. But right now, he’s fractured…beautifully, and he’s trusting me enough to show it. He’s quiet for a heartbeat, the air between us soft but tense. “I saw you with Ezra,” he murmurs, meeting my eyes. “The familiarity. And it made me wonder”—he pauses, running a hand through his hair—“if I’ve been reading this wrong.”
“Hayden,” I whisper, reaching for his hand. “Ezra…whatever he was, it’s firmly in the past. But nothing more.”
Hayden’s eyes meet mine, and I see the fear he’s been carrying.
“What I feel for you, Hayden…it’s different. Deeper. Real.” Heat climbs my cheeks, and I wonder if I’ve said too much. “I’m yours,” I whisper, holding his eyes. “Completely.”
His shadows still, like even they sense how fragile and precious this truth between us is.
“I’m not used to needing someone this way. It…terrifies me,” he admits.
“That makes two of us,” I murmur, looping my arms around his waist.
“I want this,” he breathes against my hair. “Us. More than I thought I could.”
I nuzzle into his neck. “Me, too.”
But there’s a weight in him, twisting just beneath his words. His forehead rests against mine, and his silence stretches.
“I’m sorry for doubting,” he says finally, though it sounds too neat, like it isn’t the only thing caught in his throat.
“You never have to apologize for needing clarity,” I tell him gently, searching his eyes. “Ask me every time.”
They soften, dark and molten in the lamplight, but something else flickers there, too. Not doubt, exactly; more like hesitation. Almost as if he’s bracing for something he can’t name out loud.
“I just…needed to be sure.”
My whole body aches at his rare vulnerability.
“A sexy immortal asking me for clarity on our relationship status? Yeah, that’s the most beautifully surprising thing that’s happened all week.”
His lips quirk upward. “Glad I could exceed your expectations.”
“You always do,” I say, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.
22
Hayden
“We can alwaysduck out,” Levi murmurs, leaning close, breath warm against my ear. “Claim a floral emergency.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “You love it here, Levi. You’re glowing. I wouldn’t pull you away.”
He tilts his head slightly. “Just making sure you know where my priorities lie.”
