Page 169 of At First Catch

His eyes meet mine.

“You’re the part that scares me most.”

The apartment goes completely still after Nolan says it.

Rain taps steadily against the windows overlooking Back Bay while marina lights blur gold against the dark water outside.

And suddenly, every small shift I’ve noticed over the past two weeks rearranges itself into something clearer.

The overworking.

The exhaustion.

The emotional distance.

Not withdrawal from me.

Fear for me.

Of losing the marina.

Of needing someone else to save it.

Of needing me.

For this.

For everything we’ve built together.

His hands remain warm against my waist while he watches me carefully, like he’s waiting for this confession to scare me too.

This man still expects vulnerability to cost him people.

The thought breaks my heart a little more every time I realize it.

“You think I don’t see what you’re doing,” I declare.

Nolan’s brows pull together.

“Hads—”

“You get scared, and instead of leaning on people, you start trying to carry everything yourself.”

Nolan looks away first. It hurts more than if he argued.

Rain rattles harder against the marina windows while tension settles low and heavy through the apartment.

Finally, he says, “I’m trying to protect it.”

“Protect what?”

His jaw tightens.

“The marina?”

Nothing.

“Me?”