Page 33 of Speed Crush

I swallow. “You dragged me out here to ask if I want my best friend?”

He shrugs once, eyes never leaving mine. “You looked comfortable.”

“I was avoiding you.”

His jaw clenches. “Why?”

“Because you confuse me.”

He steps closer. I don’t move.

“What do you want from me, Noah?” I whisper.

The silence stretches.

“I don’t know,” he finally says, voice quieter now. “I just know I can’t stop wanting it.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Iwantto.”

His words hit something tender inside me.

I shake my head. “Look, Noah, you’re here to burn off steam before the next F1 season starts, so please don’t pick me. I’m not built for temporary.”

He stares at me, breathing hard, like he’s trying to hold back everything he wants to say.

“This isn’t about being careful or conservative,” I continue. “It’s not that I don’t want this.”

He watches me like I’m a fuse waiting to blow.

“But more than anything, Noah, I want someone who shows up. Really be there with me. Someone who doesn’t leave when things get complicated, inconvenient—like a fairytale that breaks, and the magic ponies and knights never appear. I don’t need someone who shows up when it’s easy and breezy. I want someone who stays. When it’s hard. When it’s messy. When it matters.”

I pause, heart hammering in my chest. My eyes search his face, and I don’t look away.

“And yeah, I know relationships don’t come with guarantees. I’m not naïve about that. People change. Life gets in the way. Loving someone doesn’t mean they’ll love you the same way forever.”

I take a deep breath, steadying myself. “But if I don’t say what I want out loud—if I don’t admit it, even just to myself—I’ll never have a chance in hell of actuallygettingthe kind of love I need. The kind that doesn’t flinch when things get hard. The kind that chooses you, again and again.”

His chest rises, slow and full. “So, it’s all in or nothing?”

“Yeah.” I force out a breath. “That’s what it has to be for me.”

He’s quiet.

Then he blurts out, “How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Want something that badly. Say it out loud without knowing if the other person can give it to you.”

I blink again.

The fantasy didn’t hold.The little ponies lost their sparkle.The knights never came.So I built my own armor.

My voice is small. “I’ve had to learn.”

He looks at me like he’s seeing something he didn’t know he was missing.

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