How could she ask if she was misreading the situation?
Clearly, we were both on the same page—wondering whatuswould look like post road trip. I know I didn’t want things to go back to just Logan and Ellie, best friends.
I was going to fight for more because I knew she was worth fighting for.
But then it hit me—this wasn’t about me. Not really.
It was abouther.
Her wounds. Her fears. The bruises left behind by men who never showed up the way she deserved.
I let out a slow breath and shook my head gently. “No, Ellie. You’re not misreading it. Not even a little.”
She nodded, arms crossed over her chest like she needed to hold herself together.
“I don’t know which way is up anymore,” she said, voice cracking slightly. “After everything with Buck, I thought I’d be fine. I thought I just needed time, time alone, time to find myself. But here I am, over a year later, and I still feel broken.”
She looked down, then back up at me with fire in her eyes.
“Never thought I’d feel so lost. So confused. Buck tore me up. Then Miles came in and messed with my trust all over again. And now you…”
She trailed off, and I could see the war behind her eyes—the way she was turning every moment over and over, analyzing it, questioning its meaning, its worth.
I stepped toward her slowly. “And now me, what?”
“I’m afraid I can’t trust the way I feel anymore,” she said, voice low but trembling. “I was wrong about the last two men. What if I’m wrong about you, too?”
The words hit me square in the chest—sharp and fast, like a bullet I never saw coming.
“Have I done anything to make you think I’d hurt you?”
She didn’t answer.
So, I gently reached for her hand, afraid she’d vanish if I moved too fast.
“Ellie,” I murmured, threading my fingers through hers. “I’m not them. I don’t want anything from you except your truth. However messy it is. However unsure. I’m here foryou.Not some version you think you have to be.”
She stared at our hands, then blinked slowly, her lips parting but no sound coming out.
“Before all this,” she whispered finally, “you were the one person in my life I never questioned. Before we kissed… before I wanted to give in to whatever this pull is between us, Iknewyou’d never hurt me.”
Her gaze drifted from me and I let go of her hand to cradle her face in both of mine. I needed her to look at me.Reallylook at me.
Love—romantic love—broke her when in reality, it should’ve healed. It was a no-brainer why she felt so uneasy putting her heart in the hands of another man when the ones in her past treated it like it was meant to be thrown away.
I was going to prove to her that her heart was worth cherishing.
“Ellie Cassidy,” I said, voice thick. “I’m in love with you. I’ve been in love with you for fifteen damn years. I’ve sat back and watched you move through life. Watched you laugh, fall, get back up, and give your heart to men who didn’t deserve itbecause I was too damn scared to say the way I felt out loud. And that’s where I fucked up.”
Her jaw slackened, her eyes locked with mine. Something shifted in her expression—something quiet but certain, like the moment just before dawn breaks.
“Do you want to know how I knew I was in love with you?” I asked, more to answer it for myself than for her. “It was the way my stomach would twist when you walked into a room. The way my chest would tighten when you smiled. I blushed like a damn schoolboy when you looked at me too long. I found myself making up excuses just to be near you. I wanted to hear your voice when I was hurting, and when I couldn’t sleep, I’d imagine that jasmine perfume you always wore. That scent got me through some of the worst nights. Nights where I was alone, longing for connection, wondering if I was the reason my parents were never around.”
I paused, still holding her face, my thumbs gently stroking the pink heat blooming across her cheeks. She was breathtaking—every single part of her.
“You were my reminder, my one constant in life. You were my friend, myperson.”
“I never knew…” she whispered, her voice barely a sound.