Grayson moved away quickly, sitting up without further urging from her. “Wren?” he asked, concerned. “Are you okay?”
She rapidly sat up, sliding to the other side of the couch, unable to look at him. “I’m just tired. It’s later than I thought.” The lie sounded weak even to her own ears, especially since the words were spoken in a pant that no longer had anything to do with arousal, and everything to do with blind terror.
Grayson shook his head slowly. “No.”
She stilled, wishing she wasn’t breathing like a woman who’d just run three consecutive marathons. It took her a moment to compose herself, then she spent another three trying to understand his response. When she couldn’t, she frowned. “No?”
“You already got your one bye on lying to me. You’re not going to do that anymore.” His words were strangely calm, even soothing.
“I’m not?” She didn’t mean for those words to sound like a question, but she was still struggling to drag herself out of the mire of old memories.
“If you can’t tell me something, just say that.” His voice gentled. “But please don’t lie.”
Emotion clogged her throat, the truth sitting there, heavy and terrifying.
She’d never told anyone about that night, outside her family, who had been there, and Sophie.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out and the panic only grew.
She was ruining it! All of it!
Grayson watched her struggle, and she waited for him to rise and excuse himself. Because this was the part where shit always fell apart.
It probably spoke to just how fucked up she was that she was actually a tiny bit proud of tonight’s panic attack. Because it was a hell of a lot less severe than the ones following her first failed attempts at intimacy.
“It’s okay, little bird,” he said softly.
His reassurance and that sweet nickname nearly broke her.
“We’re going to do this on your timeline,” he added.
A tear slipped free before she could catch it.
Because Grayson got there first, brushing it away. “One day, you’ll trust me enough to share all your secrets.” He spoke with such confidence, she found herself believing him.
“Some secrets…” she whispered, the words fading away when her throat closed again.
Grayson ran his finger over her lower lip. “I’m a patient man, little bird, so you don’t need to worry about that. Okay?”
She blinked a few times, willing the tears away before nodding.
“Until then, we’ll go slow.”
The knot in her chest loosened.
“You were okay with the kisses?”
“So okay,” she breathed, her quick response prompting him to smile.
“Then we’ll stick with that for now.”
“You’re not leaving me?” she asked, uncertain why she’d added the word me to that question. It was just…she couldn’t believe he wasn’t getting the hell out of Dodge.
“Never.”
The word hovered, filling the space between them with a promise so sweet and true, she was struggling to breathe again.
Only this time, she didn’t mind the breathlessness.
