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He nodded, running his fingers through my hair before he spoke. “I think I’m falling for you, Sam,” he said, keeping his eyes on mine. “It happened fast, and I don’t understand it, but it’s real. I know that now. And I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon.”
This man was going to make me fucking melt. No matter what he said, at least I had that.
Christ, he’d said he was falling for me. And that only made me fall about ten times deeper for him, too.
“I’ve never been close to anybody like I already am with you,” he said. “You care so much about other people, and yet still manage to hold so much self-confidence, too. You care about yourself as much as the people you love. And I think you’ve taught me to do the same.”
“You sure are good at buttering me up,” I said, feeling a slight heat creep up to my cheeks. In reality, I just didn’t have enough composure to say anything else. I wanted to leap around the roof like a damn bunny.
“It’s all true,” he said. “I was sitting there schmoozing with Mariya and she offered me a job. An incredible job. Something even better than the CEO position. And I realized that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do it.”
“Fox, I still mean it when I say, I don’t want you to give up on things for me—”
“Give up?” he said, his eyes wide. “If I’m not around you, I feel like I’m giving up the best thing that’s happened to me in years. I think I want to be with you. And that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever had to admit. I’ve been thinking about nothing else. It’s torturing me. You deserve so much better than me, and even if you did want more, how the hell are we ever going to explain—”
I crushed my lips to his, not even caring that I was cutting him off. I pushed him backward until his body was up against the wall of the building, pinning him there.
“I want to be with you, too,” I uttered as I pulled in a breath, squeezing his hips probably too hard. “Christ, Fox, I want you so much I felt guilty for it.”
“I’m not the only one dying inside about this?” he said.
“You are not the only one,” I said.
“We are both crazy,” he said, like it was finally dawning on him.
“Certifiably.”
“Like, we’ve got it bad.”
“I guess so,” I said, unable to keep a smile off my face.
His smile appeared a second later. “I missed you so fucking much it hurt.”
“Well, I’m right here,” I said. “And I’m not going anywhere. But I still feel like I’m being stupid.”
“Yes. Definitely. But why?”
“Because how can we know? How can we know if we’re doing the right thing, or if it’ll be the right decision? Even regardless of us being stepbrothers. We’ve only been back in each other’s lives for such a short time.”
“This trip hasn’t even felt like real time,” he said. “Not to me, at least. Everything has felt bigger. I feel like I’ve gotten to know you better during this trip than I get to know most people in years.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I feel it, too.”
“I know you hate cicadas,” he said, his eyes dancing over my face. “I know you look like a chaotic little angel when you sleep. I know you hate sausage, and are the king of s’mores. I know you’re far better at hiking than you think. I know you were totally yourself even in high school, but somehow have grown into an even more confident man. And I know you will always be there for the people you love.”
I let out a little sigh. “No one’s ever been this nice to me, Fox.”
“I already know so much about you, and yet I love the idea that it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said, holding my hand gently. “I want to know so much more.”
“And I know you’re one of the most caring people in the goddamn world, even though you sure hid it well back in high school.”
He laughed, looking up at the night sky before looking back at me.
“I’m tired of trying to come up with reasons why we shouldn’t be together,” Fox said. “Because there are so many reasons why we should. You make me laugh. You make me feel like the best version of me. You lift me up. You keep me grounded, though, too. And goddamn, you make me come.”
“And you actually take me seriously,” I told him. “Even when nobody else does. Even when you’ve seen me be a blubbering idiot on this trip.”
“All I’ve seen you do is be hot as hell,” he said.
“Now you’re just flattering me for the sake of it.”
