Page 119 of Say Yes to the Nemesis
“I pay attention.”
The simple statement hits harder than it should. She pays attention. To me. To my habits and patterns and the stupid little things I do when I think no one’s watching.
I twist the cap off my water and take a long drink, using the time to study her face. She looks tired but alert, like her mind is running in circles just like mine.
“So what’s keeping you up?” I ask.
“You really want to know?”
“Yeah.”
She unfolds herself from the bar stool and walks over to me, stopping just close enough that I can smell her shampoo. Some kind of vanilla and honey scent that always makes me want to bury my face in her hair.
“I can’t stop thinking about what you said.”
“Which part?”
“That you’re already in too deep.” She looks up at me. There’s something vulnerable in her expression that makes my chest tight. “Did you mean it?”
The question hangs between us like a live wire. I could deflect, make a joke, turn this into something lighter. But she’s looking at me like my answer matters more than anything else in the world.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I meant it.”
She nods, like she was expecting that answer but needed to hear it anyway. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“Afraid?”
“Because I’m in too deep, too, Ryan. Completely, stupidly deep. I have no idea what to do about it.”
The confession hits me like a slap shot to the chest. All the air leaves my lungs at once. She’s gone. She said it. Out loud, with no cameras rolling and no producers listening and no one to perform for except me.
“Wren…”
“I know it’s crazy. I know there are a million reasons this won’t work. But I can’t pretend anymore that this is just physical or just for the show or just anything other than what it is.”
“And what is it?”
She takes a shaky breath. “I’m not saying I’m in love with you. I’m just saying I think about you all the time, and everything feels heavier when you’re not around, and…”
She trails off, flushing.
Her words slice right through every defense I’ve ever built. I set my water bottle down on the counter with hands that aren’t quite steady.
“You’re terrifying, Wren. I’m scared shitless of what you could do if you wanted to hurt me.”
Her eyes probe my face. When she speaks, her voice is a whisper. “I would never do that.”
I scrunch my face up. “Maybe not on purpose. But you have me wrapped around your finger, sweetheart.”
I reach for her before I can think better of it, pulling her against my chest. She comes willingly, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing her face into my shoulder.
“So we are agreed. This whole situation is insane.”
“It’s not insane,” I murmur into her hair.
“It’s not?”
“Well, it is. But not for the reasons you think.”
