Page 104 of At First Catch

Everything fades except those six words.

“Hadley,” I say roughly, knowing that I’m silently asking her why she left me in the first place.

She steps closer, rises on the tips of her toes, and kisses me. Her hands slide up my chest while she presses close enough that warmth floods every inch of me.

I kiss her back harder. Every kiss with Hadley feels like finally breathing after years underwater.

She makes a soft sound against my mouth and my entire body reacts violently to it. Need crashes through me hard enough to blur the edges of rational thought.

My hand slides carefully to her waist, pulling her flush against me while the bay wind moves around us in warm, restless waves.

The way she melts into me as if she belongs there nearly destroys my remaining self-control.

The kiss deepens. Hungrier. Days, weeks, months of tension finally unraveling piece by piece beneath moonlight and salt air.

Hadley’s fingers slide into my hair, and I swear my heart physically stutters. No one has ever touched me like this before.

I break the kiss first only because I genuinely need oxygen. For one suspended second, neither of us moves.

Hadley’s forehead rests lightly against my shoulder while both of us breathe unevenly in the warm night air.

Hadley laughs against my mouth. “You’re doing the staring thing again.”

I smile helplessly despite myself.

“Can you blame me?”

Her cheeks flush in the moonlight as she tilts her face toward mine.

“Nolan?”

The softness in her voice pulls my attention fully back to her.

“What?”

Hadley studies me carefully for one suspended second before asking, “What happens now?”

The question hangs between us.

What happens now that this is real? Now that neither of us is pretending anymore?

I look at her, standing beneath the moonlight with swollen lips and warm, hopeful eyes, and realize the answer comes easier than anything else ever has.

“Now,” I say, brushing my thumb gently along her jaw, “I take you home before I forget how to behave in public.”

Hadley bursts into startled laughter. And just like that, the tension eases enough for me to breathe again.

Barely.

I walk her to the truck and open her door. She smiles up at me, then reaches back for my hand one more time before climbing in. I don’t let go until I have to.

Chapter Thirteen

HADLEY

Ireach for two coffee mugs. Freeze halfway to the counter. Stare at the second one for a full five seconds before laughing to myself. Apparently, my brain has already started accounting for Nolan, which feels reckless.

The way he moved me to the inside of the sidewalk walking back through town after our date. The way he remembers things I mention casually. The way his entire face melts into a tender gaze whenever he looks at me, as if I’m a delicate treasure to be cherished.