A Risk Worth Taking

by Jessica Joyce

Taking his hand feels like the riskiest thing I’ve done in years and somehow also the safest.

“This is going to be a one-night stand on a technicality, just so you know. If you weren’t leaving tomorrow, I’d keep you until you got sick of me.”

I’m so used to thinking of the word careful in how it relates to the way I view the world, historically—with caution, aware of every angle of risk. I never thought of it the way Connor means right now: to literally be full of care. To be thoughtful and attentive. Diligent.

His mouth on mine is the period at the end of that sentence, but it also feels the beginning of some sort of promise.

His expression melts into something that could easily slip into love, now that we have the time to get there. “Is that your adorable way of saying you want this, too?” “I already told you,” I say, just before he pulls me down for a kiss. “I want everything.”