Page 160 of Romeo

I leaned my head against the wall.

The first answer that came to mind was because I loved her.

I didn’t type it.

Fiona wasn’t ready for that word. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I was ready to hand it to her through a phone screen and let three dots decide my entire fucking future.

Me: Because when you tell me, I want it to be because you’re ready, not because I cornered you.

Her answer came almost immediately.

Ma Belle: You make it very hard not to love you

I stopped breathing. For a few seconds, the room seemed too fucking quiet. I read the sentence once, then again, although the words didn’t change.

You make it very hard not to love you.

Not I love you.

Not quite.

But close enough that every muscle in my body tightened as if she’d whispered the words against my mouth.

Me: Fiona.

That was all I trusted myself to type.

If I let my hands move any farther, she was going to get the truth before either of us was ready for it.

Her answer came a moment later.

Ma Belle: Goodnight, Jasper.

I groaned.

Me: That was cruel.

Ma Belle: I learned from you

I stared at the screen, half frustrated and half impressed.

She wasn’t wrong.

I’d spent months giving Fiona enough to let her know what I wanted without ever laying the whole thing at her feet. Apparently, she’d been paying attention.

The conversation ended there.

I put the phone on the nightstand and scrubbed both hands over my face, but the words stayed in front of me even with my eyes closed.

You make it very hard not to love you.

I wanted to hear her say it.

Not because I needed the reassurance—I’d known what Fiona was to me from the beginning. I wanted the moment she stopped fighting herself.

The thought of her looking at me and finally saying those words pulled every other image I’d spent months keeping under control right along with it.

I shifted against the bed as my body reacted.