“Tell me if I’m crossing a line,” he says.
I look down at our joined hands. Thread my fingers more firmly through his.
“You crossed it yesterday,” I say. “Out in the field.”
The corner of his mouth moves. “And?”
One long beat.
“And I haven’t wanted you to step back since.”
I can actually see the moment they land. His chest rises slowly beneath the thin gray T-shirt, and for once the always-composed professor looks completely unmoored. Not about the storm. Not about the science. About me. About this.
His fingers tighten carefully around mine. “Okay,” he says, like the word is something to hold onto.
I wait. Jonah exhales through his nose, gaze dropping to our joined hands before coming back up.
“I don’t need to name it tonight,” he says. “I’m not asking for that. Though, you seem to like them a lot when it comes to me.” I shake my head at him. “I just need to know I didn’t make it up.”
Something skips in my chest.
“The way you kissed me back. The way you look at me sometimes.” He swallows. “I need to know it’s real for you too.”
There’s something that wrecks me about Jonah sounding like this. This man who can read a supercell at a glance, lying here in the dark looking at me like I’m the variable he can’t solve for.
“You think I kiss people like that when it doesn’t mean anything?” I ask.
The corner of his mouth shifts. “Honestly, I have no idea what you do. My ability to think clearly in your vicinity has been pretty significantly compromised.”
“I just…” He hesitates. “I don’t need to know what this becomes. I just need to know I’m not the only one who wants it to become something.”
The honesty in his voice makes my throat tighten.
“And what do you want it to become?”
His gaze drops briefly to my mouth before he answers.
“More.” The word comes out low and immediate. “I want more of this. More of you.” His thumb brushes lightly across my knuckles. “I want to keep finding out.”
I want that too. I want his hands on me again. I want to keep being the variable he can’t solve for.
I shift closer beneath the blankets until there’s barely any space left between us.
“You didn’t imagine it,” I say. For one suspended moment, Jonah just looks at me. “I want that too.”
Relief flickers across his expression first, followed immediately by something warmer. Deeper. The kind of look that makes my pulse feel unsteady.
Then he lifts our joined hands and presses a slow kiss against my knuckles. The gesture is so unexpectedly tender it nearly wrecks me on the spot.
Before I can overthink myself into backing away, I lean forward and kiss him.
Jonah freezes for half a second in surprise. Then he kisses me back.
And suddenly all that careful restraint he carries around cracks wide open beneath my mouth.
His hand slides around my waist instantly, pulling me closer while he kisses me with a low sound that sends heat rushing through my entire body. The kiss starts soft, almost cautious, but it deepens quickly, turning hungry in a way that makes my head spin.
I shift awkwardly because of the sling, trying to get closer anyway, and Jonah immediately adjusts with me. One strong hand settles at my hip while the other braces carefully along my back, protective even now.
