Page 212 of Let Me In

His hand is still at my waist.

But now it’s tighter.

Not rough. Just… anchored.

Like the ground moved beneath him and he’s holding on.

I blink up at him. Heat floods my cheeks.

“I—was that okay?”

My voice is small. Uncertain. I hadn’t planned to say it. It just fit. Like it had always been there, waiting.

His eyes are on me. Wrecked.

Not in the breaking way.

In the found way.

“Okay?” he says, like the word doesn’t make sense. His voice is hoarse. Roughened at the edges in a way I’ve only ever heard when he’s holding something back.

He takes a breath, shoulders rising with the weight of it. His jaw flexes, a muscle ticking just beneath his stubble. Then he shakes his head slowly, like he’s trying to steady something inside him before it breaks loose.

“Baby…”

It’s all he says. His voice trembles, like it cracked open on the way out. His eyes are locked on mine, shining with something he’s not hiding anymore. One hand curls slightly at his side, as if he’s grounding himself in the moment. If he doesn’t hold still, he might fall apart right there.

It’s not the word that undoes me. It’s the way he says it.

His hand comes up—cupping my cheek so gently I could almost cry. His thumb brushes beneath my eye, even though there are no tears. Just… something bigger.

“I need you to hear this,” he says, voice low. Steady, but almost ruined. “You never have to ask if that’s okay.”

My breath hitches.

He steps in closer.

“That word?” he murmurs. “That’s everything I’ve been holding back. Everything I’ve wanted to be for you.”

His forehead comes to rest against mine.

“And hearing you say it… I swear, baby. It just about dropped me to my knees.”

I close my eyes.

Because I feel it.

Every part of him wrapped around every part of me, even when we’re barely touching.

His thumb keeps stroking my cheek.

“I’ll earn it,” he adds. “Every day, in every way. I’ll earn being your Daddy.”

I lean into his palm.

He pulls me in.

Not just a hug.

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