CHAPTER EIGHT #2
“I choose truth,” she said again. Despite what she’d said, neither of us were ready for a dare.
“What made you choose Boston?” I asked.
The smile vanished from her face, and she looked down for a moment before answering.
“I didn’t choose Boston because I loved it,” she said.
“I chose it because it was big and I could disappear. Nobody knew my name and nobody cared where I came from. I thought that if I could get far enough away, I could stop looking over my shoulder all the time.”
She didn’t mention her stepfather. She didn’t have to. I didn’t interrupt her or ask for more information. There was no point in making her think about bad memories again, and I could see that she appreciated my silence. She took a breath and looked at me again.
“Your turn,” she said.
“Truth.”
She looked at me for a time without saying anything. I could tell she was thinking about what to ask me. When she finally spoke, her voice was very quiet.
“Why did you really start watching me?” she asked.
I’d known she was going to ask me that. I was only surprised it had taken her this long.
“It started after you spilled beer on me that night,” I said.
“It should have been an accident, but I couldn’t forget you.
You were scared even before you spilled the beer.
When I thought about it later, I knew I hadn’t imagined it: there was something about you that made me think there was more to your story.
” I put my arms on the desk, still looking at her.
“At first I was just curious. Then I started asking questions, and the more I learned, the more I realized that something wasn’t right.
There were a lot of gaps in your past. Instead of making me lose interest, they made me worried.
By the time I realized I was watching out for you of just watching you, it was too late. ”
The room became quiet again.
“I was wrong to make decisions for you,” I said. “I’ve already apologized for kissing you without asking, but I’m apologizing again. You deserved to have a choice. I took that away from you. I don’t regret wanting to kiss you, but I do regret taking away your choice.”
She looked at me for a minute, and I stopped trying to guess what she was thinking. The game wasn’t important anymore. All that was left was the two of us sitting together with nothing to hide behind.
When she finally spoke again, her voice was barely audible.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about the kiss,” she said.
My mind went blank. I just stared at her, speechless.
She slowly walked toward me, stopping close enough that I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. There wasn’t any fear anymore. Neither of us knew what would happen next. She took a breath before speaking again.
“I’m still angry, Liam. I don’t want you to think that everything is okay now.
It isn’t. I still don’t like what happened with the kiss.
I still don’t like that you made so many decisions without asking me.
Every time I think about it, I find another reason to be angry with you.
I don’t think that will go away soon, and I’m not going to pretend it will. ”
I listened to her without saying anything. She deserved that.
“But I’ve been watching you,” she said. “I’ve seen you give me space when you could have argued with me.
You brought Maeve here even though she could have convinced me to leave.
You never told me I was wrong for being angry, and when I pushed you away, you didn’t push back.
I still don’t agree with what you did, even if you had good reasons. ”
I looked at her for a long time before answering.
“You don’t have to agree with what I did, Nora.
You don’t even have to like me. I saw something bad coming, so I did what I had to do.
I brought you here so you would be safe.
That’s what I do. You can be angry with me if you want, because I’m not going to tell you that your feelings are wrong.
The only thing that matters to me is that you’re safe. ”
She was quiet for a moment before shaking her head. “You still can’t hear yourself. Every time you talk, you focus on what you decided or what you thought was best. That’s why I was so angry. You never asked what I wanted. You just decided for me.”
“I know how I make decisions,” I said. “I can’t change what I’ve already done. What can change is what happens now. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you. If you stay, it will be because you want to. What happens next is up to you, not me.”
The room was quiet again. Neither of us moved. Then she touched my face. It surprised me, but my body wanted to lean into it. I stayed still. This was her moment, not mine.
“There’s something you should know. I’ve never been with anyone before. I just want you to know that, if I decide to do something.”
I took her hand. “Listen to me. Nothing has to happen just because you’re here or because we kissed. If you change your mind, we’ll stop. I don’t want to take your choices from you again. Not now, not ever.”
She looked at me for a time before smiling. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure.”
Then she kissed me. This kiss was different from the first one. It wasn’t quick or uncertain. I followed her lead, and we moved slowly. There was no need to hurry, no need to prove anything. Every step we took was because she wanted to.
Her hands rested against my shoulders as she kissed me again. I felt her hesitation disappear little by little, replaced by something warmer. Something that had been building between us long before either of us had admitted it.
I touched her waist, giving her plenty of time to pull away. She didn’t. Instead, she moved closer, until there was almost no space left between us.
I kissed her cheek, then the corner of her mouth, giving her another chance to change her mind. She turned her face toward mine and kissed me again.
I’d spent years being careful about every move, but none of that prepared me for the way Nora looked at me.
There was still uncertainty in her expression, but there was something else, too—trust. Not total trust, but enough to let me stay close. She reached for my shirt and slowly undid the first button, then the next.
“Still okay?” I asked.
She nodded. She finished with my shirt buttons and guided my hand to hers. I slipped her shirt off her shoulders, and pent-up emotions rushed through me as I saw the soft skin of her breasts. They glowed like the morning sun, calling to me.
For a moment, I simply looked at her. Not because I was surprised by her beauty, but because I wanted to remember the expression on her face. She wasn’t hiding or frightened. She was standing in front of me because she’d chosen to.
I kissed her slowly, my hands moving over her back as she held on to me. Her breathing changed when I kissed the curve of her shoulder, and she pulled me closer as I grazed my hands over her body.
She trembled against me when we finally crossed that last distance between us.
I stopped for a moment, watching her face, giving her one final chance to tell me to stop.
Instead, her arms tightened around me and she whispered my name.
The uncertainty in her eyes had disappeared, replaced by a warmth that made my heart beat faster.
We moved together slowly, neither of us rushing the moment. I kept checking her face, watching for hesitation, and every time, she answered by drawing me closer.
The room became filled with quiet breaths, whispered words, and the soft sounds of two people discovering something neither of them had expected to find.
For Nora, it wasn’t simply about desire. I understood that now. This was about trust. About letting someone close after spending years learning not to.
And for me, it was about realizing that wanting her was no longer the most important part. What mattered was that she knew she could tell me to stop at any moment, and I would listen.
When she finally relaxed against me, I held her close. Her head rested against my chest, her breathing slowly evening out.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
She lifted her head and looked at me. “I’m more than okay.” She smiled, and somehow that smile affected me more than anything else that had happened between us.
After, the house was quiet again. Nora slept peacefully next to me as I watched her breathe.
Outside, nothing had changed. People were still looking for her.
There was still danger. My life was still the same.
I would have to go back to it when she woke up.
But something between us had changed. Nora had chosen to come closer to me instead of being forced closer by the circumstances.
For now I was still, staying in this room for a little while, neither of us running from anything.