Page 90 of Sawyer

I’m falling for you, my pulse thunders.So fast and so hard that it’s terrifying. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared, but I can’t stay away.

Maybe because freedom and fidelity don’t seem like such mutually exclusive concepts with Sawyer, the way they were with Dan.

The idea shakes me to my core.I’mshaking.

Sawyer loops his arm around my middle and pulls me against him, saying in my ear, “I’m right here, pretty girl. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay.” I’m embarrassed by how choked up I am. Part of me wants to smile. Iamsmiling.

Another part wants to cry. So I do. Tears silently streak down my face. I wait for Sawyer to pull away. To tell me to get it together.

But Dan was the one who’d do that. Sawyer just holds me until my heart rate evens out.

“You called me honey,” he says.

I squeeze my eyes shut. I already know the answer, but just to be sure, I still ask, “Too much?”

“That’s how you taste, you know.” Pulling back to look at me, he slips his fingers into his mouth, his tongue making an obscene smacking noise as he licks them. “Like honey.”

“You’re rude.”

“You don’t mind.”

My face hurts from smiling so hard. My eyes feel tired from tears. I press my finger into his dimple. “Not one bit.”

“Can I feed you now? Real food.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear. The tenderness of the gesture turns the stuff inside my chest to mush. He is absolutelynotturned off by my show of vulnerability, and that fact hits me in the back of my knees, making me feel lightheaded and swoony.

“I’ve got quite the spread if I do say so myself.”

I blink back the burn in my eyes. “I’d love that, yes.”

“Hey.” Crooking his finger underneath my chin, he tips up my face. “You okay?”

God, why can’t this guy get at leastonething wrong? Why can’t he be, I don’t know, dismissive of my feelings, or at the very least turned off by how emotional I’m getting? Most guys I know would be hightailing it out of here right now. But Sawyer is staying.

He’slistening.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Not to get too deep here—I know this is our first date?—”

“I like deep.”

Of course you do.

He grins, cupping my face in the warm mitt of his hand. I tilt my head so I can lean into his touch. I even place my hand over his.

Safe.This feels safe. And good. And right.

“I’m not used to being treated this way is all.” My voice is tight and small.

His brows pinch together. “What do you mean?”

“You just—you let me be myself. Youlikeit when I’m myself. You pay attention and you take care of my needs and you …” I sigh. “You never judge. You make me feel like I’m a whole, complete person. Not some half-baked mess of things I need to change or work on.”

He looks at me for a long beat, adjusting his grip on my face. “You are a whole person. A person I like very much, just as you are. I hope I’ve made that crystal clear.”

I wait for the panic to set in.

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