I wanted to laugh and tease him. Instead, I found nothing.
“About earlier . . .”
“Piper,” he said softly. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not you,” I replied quickly. “You have to know that, right?”
“It was me who scared you.”
“And I don’t know why.” I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. “I did so well yesterday. When I came in here, I wanted to do it again.”
Theo finished the counter and washed his hands. When he was done, he came to stand in front of me. “Do you want to take time to recover?”
“I want to feel better.”
“You’ve made progress.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
Slowly, his hand lifted before stopping in front of me. “Does this scare you?”
I looked down at his outstretched hand, eyes tracing over where his tattoos began. “No.”
“So that’s progress. One step back doesn’t erase it.”
I raised my own hand, moving slowly, and let my palm rest against his. The touch sparked, and though I was nervous, it wasn’t like the panic earlier.
“Thank you,” I said softly. “I know you had a long day, and this is probably the last thing you need to be dealing with.”
“I’m fine.”
I dragged my eyes up to his. “You’re not. Something’s bothering you.”
His lips pressed together and I watched him struggle with what to say.
“Was it me?” I asked after a long moment.
Theo’s eyes widened as if he’d been caught. “N-no.”
“So, it was me. Did I do something?” I pulled my hand away from his. “Is touching you too much?”
“No.” He rushed to say it. “It’s not that. It’s me. It’s all on me.”
“In what way?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t answer.
“I’m not gonna judge you, Theo. I mean, look at me, I’m twenty-four and I can’t touch people. What could you possibly have done?”
“It’s . . . not great.”
“Do you trust me?”
“I do.”
“Then tell me. Please.”
“You really don’t want to hear this.”
