Page 48 of Well That Happened

I exhale. “I didn’t plan it. It just… happened. I was tired, and he was there, and—”

“You don’t owe me an explanation, Rilee.”

“Ido,though. You’ve been nothing but good to me, and I—this isn’t fair to you.”

Caleb stands, runs a hand through his hair. “I’m not mad. I just…” He lets out a breath. “It’s not like we’re exclusive; I’d have no right to ask you not to.”

My heart twists.

“I know. It’s just… this whole thing? It’s messy. And scary. And I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He steps toward me, voice gentler now. “Then let me be the one who doesn’t make it harder.”

I look up at him. “What does that mean?”

He exhales, hands loose at his sides. “It means I don’t want to add pressure or guilt to something that’s already confusing for you.”

“So you’re just… okay with this?”

“No,” he says, soft but firm. “But I get it.”

I blink. “You do?”

“I get what it’s like to want more than one thing at once. To feel like you’re stuck between two choices.”

I stare at him, throat tight.

“Rilee, I like you,” he says. “Not just for the flirty stuff. I like how your brain works. I like how hard you fight for things even when you’re barely holding yourself together. I like being around you—even when you’re spiraling.”

My chest aches in the best and worst way.

“I’m not asking for an answer. Or a promise. I just…” His jaw tenses. “I want you to know that if this goes somewhere? I’ll show up. Fully. And if it doesn’t?” He shrugs. “I’ll still root for you.”

Something in me crumbles at that.

Because I know he means it.

And I don’t know how to handle that kind of steady, patient,realaffection.

He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

The ache in my chest spreads.

“Caleb…”

He shakes his head. “Don’t overthink it, Rilee.”

And damn it.

That’s worse.

Because hemeansit.

Because this is the kind of guy you don’t get over.

Sweet. Beautiful. Kind.

His words linger between us, soft but grounding.

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