“It’s the past.”
“No. I mean, about me. About being so...God, when I think of what I put you through these past few weeks. The marching band, driving me around, pulling me away from danger. I’ve been incredibly selfish.”
“You were doing it for Cath.”
“That’s what I told myself. But I wasn’t thinking about you. And that’s so messed up.”
“It’s not messed up to care. I have been...existing. Since you’ve gotten here, I feel like I’m living again.”
My heart jumped into my throat. “The fear of death will do that,” I tried to joke.
He chuckled half-heartedly.
“It’s more than that,” I went on. “I’ve pushed you so hard. Asked so much of you. The stuff with your band. And then at the Fall Festival. I can’t ever repay you. I’m already in your debt because of what you’re doing for Cath.”
He scratched the back of his neck, running that same hand around to tug at his curls. “You don’t owe me anything. And with Cath...I don’t know that I’m even really helping. I don’t know what to do there.”
“I have faith in you. And as far as everything else, I can chill out a little. Control myself, my temper. I’ll be better.”
“What temper?”
“Come on,” I said with a disbelieving look.
“Your passion is not a temper. You don’t have anger issues. I think people have just told you that for so long, you take it to be true. You’re a physically active person. You’re highly motivated. But you aren’t some ticking time bomb.”
“You’ve literally pulled me away from people.”
“Yeah, but I’ve also seen you hold back when it matters. With Pin Dick. That guy is the worst. If you were really overly emotional—whatever that even means—you wouldn’t be able to deal with him. You wouldn’t be the force that you are to this town and for this band. Just because people don’t know what to do with you, that isn’t your problem.”
“I-I always felt like something was wrong with me. That I should be one of those very calm Southern ladies. I want to be better.”For you, I almost said.
“People who care about you only want you to be yourself. You don’t have to change yourself to be chosen.”
An internal alarm went off. I wanted that to be true, but time had shown me the opposite. What it would be like to be chosen by a man like him. But it wasn’t on the table, and this wasn’t about me. I was meant to be comforting Leo.
He reached again for his curls. I brushed his hand away, stepping forward to tug on a lock. “You have such good hair. All this bounce. Totally the opposite of mine.” Our bodies were inches apart.
He cleared his throat on a swallow. “Janice always jokes that I got my curls from her.”
My confusion must have been clear as he added, “Because I’m adopted.” He watched my face closely for a reaction to his confession.
My gaze searched his as I moved closer. “I didn’t know.”
“Not a lot of people do,” he said simply.
How had Leo and I gotten to this place? Once strangers in a small town, now whispering confessions to each other in the middle of the night, our bodies only a breath away.
“Thanks for sharing that with me. Do you know your birth parents?” I asked.
“Nah. Janice never let me feel like I missed anything,” he said.
“She’s a wonderful mother.”
“She’s done everything for me. I literally wouldn’t be here without her.”
I smiled at his sincerity, thinking again of how she’d asked me to help him. How she’d raised this incredible man all on her own. I fell into him without warning to hug him.
It took him a moment before he lifted his arms to hug me back. My front pressed to his bare chest. It was incredibly intimate. It was peace.
