Chapter 16
Five Little Words
Remi
His lips on mine are the softest kind of undoing.
There’s no rush in it. No greed. Just the quiet, aching pull of something that’s been building between us from the moment I walked into his house with a duffel bag and too many doubts. He kisses like a man who’s never allowed himself to want—really want—something for himself.
And somehow, I feel like the want… is me.
There’s just his breath. His hands. His heartbeat pressed against my chest like a song I’ve waited my whole life to hear.
Everything about him feels like home, like something carved into me before I even knew to go looking for it. I didn’t know kissing someone could feel like a truth finally told. Like every piece of me—every loud, chaotic, too-much part—was finally wanted.
My fingers grip the fabric of his shirt, tugging him closer, not because I need more, but because I never knew something could feel this right. Like finding your way home after years of being lost. Like being chosen without having to shrink yourself first.
I can feel his breath against my cheek when he breaks away, just long enough to rest his forehead against mine.
“I knew it,” he whispers, his voice wrecked. “I knew it’d be like this.”
I smile—something wide and real—and the fear inside me finally starts to quiet. For the first time in a long time, I’m not too loud. Not too much. I’m just… enough.
Then a sharp ping cuts through the silence like a needle through silk.
Coleman groans and presses his forehead against mine. “Shit, I’m sorry.” His voice is hoarse, low, like he doesn’t want to pull away from this moment any more than I do. “I need to check it. Might be the girls.”
I nod, still breathless. He doesn’t step away, just keeps me wrapped in his arms as he reaches behind me for his phone. His hand stays on my cheek, fingers moving in slow, soothing circles like he can’t stop touching me.
But then my phone vibrates too.
I think it’s Matthew, probably checking that I made it home safe. I glance down, not expecting much. But it’s not my brother.
It’s Payton.
Payton:
Did you make Matthew cookies?
That’s all it says.
Five little words that make my throat tighten.
At first, I don’t get it. I blink at the message, rereading it like there’s a secret hidden between the lines. But then I think about how she is. Quiet. Guarded. Always holding her feelings behind those big eyes like she’s afraid the world will break if she lets them show.
This isn’t about cookies.
This is her way of asking if I miss her. Of telling me that she misses me.
She’s reaching out in the only way she knows how. And God—it breaks something in me.
Like ice water down my spine, the weight of it all floods back in.
The kiss. The warmth. The way my heart raced like I was standing on the edge of something too good to be real.
I freeze beneath Coleman’s hand.
He feels it instantly.
He brushes my cheek again, softer this time. “It’s just Paige,” he murmurs. “She said they want to call before bed. I can wait until you head up if—”
“I can’t do this,” I say, barely above a whisper.
His brow furrows. “What?”
I step back, gently this time, but it feels like ripping something open inside me. “Coleman… I want to. God, I want to. But I can’t.”
His face tightens. Confused. Hurt.
“It’s not you,” I add quickly. “It’s not that I don’t feel something—I do. But I can’t risk the girls.”
He doesn’t say anything, just waits with that calm, steady patience that always makes me feel like he sees right through me.
“I can’t start something with you and then it fall apart. Because I love them, Coleman. I love those girls. And if we do this… and it goes wrong…” I suck in a sharp breath. “They’ll lose me too.”
Something shifts behind his eyes. Not surprise. Not judgment. Just… awe.
“You love them?” he asks softly.
“How could I not?” I whisper. “They’re… incredible. Smart, stubborn, and beautiful. They’ve already had so many people walk away from them, and I just… I can’t be another one.”
He steps closer and presses the gentlest kiss to my cheek, right where my tears are threatening to fall. “I get it,” he says. And I believe him.
I start to turn, needing to breathe before I fall apart, but his voice stops me.
“Remi… stay with me tonight?”
I pause.
“Just to lay with me,” he says. “It’s been a long time since I held someone. Since I didn’t feel so alone.”
That cracks something in me.
Because I know that kind of lonely too.
Without another word, I nod.
I change into a worn band tee and soft sleep shorts, then quietly slip into his room. The lights are low. His bed is bigger than mine, but it doesn’t feel cold when I crawl into it.
Because he’s there.
Waiting.
He lifts the blanket and pulls me into him like I’m something sacred. His arms wrap around me like a promise he’s not ready to say out loud.
And I let myself rest against him, heartbeat to heartbeat.
Because maybe for tonight… we don’t have to say anything at all.