Cautious.
Wanting.
Terrified.
Savannah swallowed hard.
“Hey,” she whispered.
Tilly’s fingers tightened on the edge of the door. “Hey.”
Everything that had been simmering between them all day rushed up like heat.
And the line she’d been holding in since the car sat unspoken on her tongue, burning.
Twenty Seven
Tilly hadn’t expected to see her.
They’d barely pulled the hoodie over their head when the knock came. Not a housekeeping knock. Not a drunk guy in the wrong hallway. A soft, uncertain knock that sank straight into their chest.
They opened the door without thinking.
Savannah stood there like she wasn’t sure how she’d gotten to this spot, like she’d walked on instinct and only realized at the last second that they were on the other side. Her hands were tight at her sides. Her lips were parted like she’d been rehearsing something and forgot the words the moment the door opened.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey,” Tilly said back, because their brain had emptied completely.
They expected her to say something casual. Something safe. Something like ‘I need the hotel Wi-Fi password’ or ‘Henry wants us up early’ or ‘did you get the live shot file transferred?’
Savannah hesitated, glancing down the hallway like she was suddenly aware of where they were.
“Can I come in?”
Tilly blinked, then stepped back automatically.
“Yeah.”
Tilly stepped back to give her room.
The door closed behind her, and she looked at them for one long, shaky breath.
And then she said it.
“Do you think I’d kiss someone I don’t want?”
The words hit like a fist to the sternum.
It felt like the air left the room. Like the carpet shifted under their feet. Like someone had pulled the floor out from under every cautious thing they’d tried to hold onto for days.
Savannah looked terrified and braver than they’d ever seen her, all at once.
She kept going, voice soft but steady.
“Because you keep acting like it was some mistake or a panic or something I didn’t mean.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “And I meant it. I meant all of it.”
Tilly’s breath caught. They didn’t realize they’d stepped back until they ran out of space.
