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“That she called. That you were afraid. Or stressed.”
I blinked, just studying him for a little. “Why would I tell you that?” I asked honestly, my voice soft.
A bicycle hummed by, and chatter echoed in the distance as the silence stretched between us for what felt like a longer-than-normal two seconds.
“Because I care about you,” Iain finally said. He paused, wetting his bottom lip. “Because I’ve always cared about you, Holland. From the beginning. You know that.”
I swallowed, feeling a lurch in my core, but then an involuntary warmth spreading all through my chest.
Because I did know that.
He had been like this with me since day one. Since the day I walked into the garage and saw him and my brother fixing his bike. He had been the one to smile first—to tell Adam to shut up when he told me to get lost.
And from there, he had always noticed me, sensed my feelings when nobody else did. When Iain Thorn was in my life, he was by far the most protective of me, and considering it meant the world to me, I’d obviously always known that.
But it never felt as real as it did now that he’d just acknowledged it too.
Because in certain corners of my brain, I told myself I’d imagined it. That I was just so desperate to be seen by anyone as a kid that I’d latched onto even the tiniest, most basic acts of kindness. Considering he was older, brilliant, and so fucking beautiful, it was easy to convince myself that I wasn’t actually special to Iain.
But with that simple assertion just now, he’d put to rest all those instances of doubt.
From years ago.
From this morning.
Well, this unravels some of today’s progress, I thought a bit wryly since I’d just spent a good part of the day telling myself to pump the brakes on Iain. To just take a step back and take care of myself.
But I already felt much better if exhausted after a day of dealing with Mom. Talking myself out of going to Jersey. Getting the courage to block her number and tell Dad it could be temporary depending on her behavior. On her respect for my boundaries. She had been my main obstacle, and it probably, no definitely wasn’t fair to conflate her voicemail today with Iain’s text.
Plus, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t currently happy that he was here.
That he’d been here.
Waiting for me in front of my apartment for who knows how long.
“I heard you went to find me at the bar,” I said, cracking a smile that he mirrored just enough to make me melt.
“Yeah.”
“Well… I don’t know what places Mia rattled off to you, but I definitely wasn’t there, so
I sincerely hope you didn’t go.”
He nodded and drew in a breath. “Then let’s just say I didn’t.”
I broke out in a laugh. “Oh God, where did you go today?”
“I was going to ask you the same.”
I bit back my smile, letting my eyes linger on him for a second.
I just had to soak in the moment for a bit. The quiet of the night. The fact that he was here.
The way that he was looking at me.
Like he’d spent all day thinking about me.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story and I really need to get into my apartment to wind down from this day,” I said, peering up at my window and taking the first step up the stairs. When I looked back at him, I was nearly his height, and I had a smile on my lips because I already knew his answer to my question. “Do you want to come up?”
