Page 93 of Ransom

"Blair—"

"No." I hold up my hand. "I don't even know if I love you anymore. How could I? Twenty-five years is a lifetime." It’s true. I’ve lived more than half my life without him. That’s why this is such a mindfuck. Because it feels like yesterday. Everything I felt then is coming back, but I can’t let myself feel it.

I can’t still love him, can I? After everything?

His jaw tightens. "You're seeing someone."

"Adam." The name falls between us. "We've been... it's not serious. But it's been a couple of years."

"Do you love him?"

"No." The answer comes quickly. Maybe I should lie. Maybe that would be easier than being honest. But there have been too many lies already. "But he's here. He's stable. He doesn't complicate everything."

"Like I do?"

"Like you always have." I wrap my arms around myself, feeling the chill that has nothing to do with the temperature."From the moment you walked into that garage with Dad, my whole world tilted sideways. And now you're doing it again." I remember that day so clearly — a gangly almost teenager with too much attitude and pain in his eyes, trailing behind my father like a lost puppy. I'd been so afraid then, worried that this boy would steal away my Dad, the only sure thing in my life.

But somehow, over the months and years that followed, seeing him grow steadier and more confident, my heart had started doing strange flips whenever he was near. Those feelings had grown into something deep and terrifying, something that had threatened to consume me entirely. And now here we are again, twenty-five years later, and I'm right back in that same whirlwind of confusion.

"I never meant?—"

"Yes, you did." I cut him off. "You came here to buy the garage. To keep your promise to Dad. But then you saw me, and everything changed. Just like before." I was happy, dammit. Content. And now I can't stop myself from wondering and wishing for something more.

That stability, the equilibrium I had is long gone.

He runs a hand through his hair. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to admit this is crazy. That we can't just pick up where we left off like no time has passed. That maybe we're both holding onto something that died a long time ago."

"Is that what you believe?"

"I don't know what I believe anymore." My voice cracks. "Everything I thought I knew about my life, about Dad, about us—it's all twisted up now. And I can't... I can't think straight with you standing there looking at me like that."

My breath catches as Ransom steps closer, his body radiating heat in the cool evening air.

"You're right." His voice drops low. "Maybe I am making it all up. Maybe we're both chasing ghosts. Maybe I’m wrong about how I feel." He moves closer still, until I feel the solid oak at my back. "But there's one way to know for sure."

His hands come up to frame my face, fingertips gentle against my skin like I'm something precious, something sacred. The tenderness in his touch makes my heart stutter.

My palms press flat against his chest, but I don't push him away. Can't push him away. The solid warmth of him seeps through his shirt, and memories flood back—stolen moments when everything felt simple and inevitable. Back then we were forever. I was sure of it.

And God help me, his touch still feels the same.

"Blair." He breathes my name like a prayer. "Tell me to stop."

"I—" The words die in my throat as his thumb traces my bottom lip.

He leans in slow, giving me time to pull away. But I'm frozen, caught between the rough bark at my back and the magnetic pull of him. His lips brush mine, feather-soft, testing.

"Oh god." The words slip out against his mouth.

"I know." He deepens the kiss, still achingly gentle. "I fucking feel it too."

The careful press of his lips sparks something deep inside me, something I convinced myself died years ago. My fingers curl into his shirt as heat blooms in my chest, spreading outward until my whole body tingles.

"This isn't—" I gasp as he traces my jawline with his lips. "It's been too long to?—"

"It was fucking yesterday, Blair." His voice rumbles against my skin. "Tell me you don't feel it. Tell me this isn't real."

---