“So no, I’m not trying to make it fit into something I already understand. I’m asking myself something much simpler.”
“What?”
Dean smiled. “Whether I want this.”
I already knew the answer before he spoke again.
“And yeah,” he said in a low voice. “I do.”
My heart hammered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
“This could be a complete disaster.”
Dean blinked. “What?”
I gestured between us. “I have never done this. Not once. And you—” I hesitated, then forced it out anyway, because there was no point pretending otherwise now “—you have never done this with a man.” I paused to take a breath. “So statistically, this is not promising.”
For a second, he just stared at me, and then his mouth twitched. What came out wasn’t a laugh, but close enough.
“That is the least romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“It is accurate.”
“That doesn’t help.” Then he smiled. “I think we’ll figure it out.”
The confidence in his voice caught me off guard.
My gaze flicked, unbidden, back to the desk, to the bright wrappers still sitting there.
Dean followed my line of sight, then huffed out a quiet breath. “Hey.” His hand closed around my arm, steady and grounding, and the contact pulled my attention back to him instantly. “We’re not using those today,” he told me.
I stilled, and he didn’t look away, his thumb shifting against the sleeve of my sweater, a small, deliberate movement that manage to feel like reassurance and control at the same time.
“Just because we’re not waiting anymore,” he went on, his voice lower now, more deliberate, “doesn’t mean we rush this.” My pulse picked up again, and he nodded as though he’d felt it. “We take our time.”
Something in the way he said it—calm, certain, leaving no space for argument—settled into me in a way I hadn’t expected.
“You’re very sure,” I said, my voice quiet.
He smiled. “I’m only sure about one thing. We’re not going tomess this up by trying to do everything at once.” His hand was still on my arm, warm and steady, and I realized I wasn’t pulling away from it. Dean’s gaze didn’t waver. “Okay?”
I held his eyes for a second longer, aware of the way my pulse hadn’t settled.
“Yes.”
I meant it.
Dean
When I kissed him again,I didn’t hurry.
There was no prize for getting somewhere first.
I still remembered my first time. We’d been in such a hurry to get somewhere that we’d barely noticed the journey.
Luka leaned into me almost immediately, and the response sent a rush of warmth through my chest. His hand settled against my shoulder, he closed his eyes, and I stopped worrying about where this was going.
His breathing hitched, and the sound went straight through me. I slid my hand to his jaw again, steadying him, my thumb resting below his cheekbone as if anchoring him there.
