His hand tightened on my hip, fingers dipping in, like he was terrified of letting go. His nose burrowed into my hair at the back of my head, and his rumbled words glided through me like a dream. “Love you.” Emotion cinched down so tight around my heart, a desperate squeeze that contracted before it expanded out and unfurled with the truth. And I felt entranced by it. By the deafening quiet and the roaring that shouted in my heart and in my ears. I love you. I love you. My soul chanted it. Demanded it.
