Page 7 of You Found Me in the Dark
They started talking about a car Cam was thinking about buying or fixing up. I stood in the foyer, staring into the living room, trying to decide if I should stay or disappear.
Then Reed’s eyes flicked to mine across the room. Barely a second. I looked away first.
The room suddenly felt too small. It felt like a bad idea to gomake myself comfortable in my living room. I slipped into the kitchen with no real intention. I just needed space. Breathing room.
I leaned against the counter facing the window, fingers curled around the edge like it might steady me. The moment from last night wouldn’t stop replaying in my head. The drive and the way he’d stayed with me. Silent. Solid. Present.
And now we were pretending it never happened. God, it was just like when he kissed me. He was acting as if he wasn’t the only person, besides my brother, who’s ever seen me come completely undone.
The fridge opened behind me. I stiffened slightly but didn’t turn around.
“I’m just grabbing water,” his voice came out quiet and careful. Almost as if he spoke too loudly, I would break down.
“Okay,” I said because I didn’t know what else to say.
A pause.
Then I heard the sound of the bottle cap twisting off. And then… nothing. I finally looked over my shoulder. But he didn’t leave. Reed stood with one hand on the fridge door, water in the other, eyes on me like I was fragile.
“You good?” he asked.
I nodded too quickly and spun around to face him.
“Yeah. Fine.”
The muscles in his jaw tensed, like he didn’t believe me.
“Last night?—”
“I’m not going to tell Harper,” I cut in, sharper than I meant to. “If that’s what you’re worried about.”
His brows knitted in confusion.
“That’s not what I was gonna say.”
“Oh.”
He took a few steps towards me, and I hated how even that made my pulse kick up. We’ve had a million conversations in this house, but after last night, I swear something has changed between us.
“I wasn’t going to say anything unless you wanted to,” he said, softer now. “But I saw you, Wren. You know that, right?”
My throat tightened. I didn’t answer. I remembered what Lena said this morning,“You’re not the kind of girl who lets someone see her like that. Not unless they actually see you. Normally, if you’re upset and someone comes around, you shut that shit down. You put on a smile until you’re alone again.”
Reed set his water down on the counter where I was leaning and ran a hand through his hair. The Tegaderm covering his new tattoo on his forearm caught the light.
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Wren,” he said.
God. Hearing that was almost worse than pretending, but it felt like he meant it.
“I don’t know what last night was,” I whispered. “But it felt like something to me.”
I fidgeted with the cuff of my hoodie sleeve to avoid making eye contact with him.
“I’ve never been good at showing emotions. You know that. I just—” My voice cracked, and I paused, breathing slowly through my nose. “I don’t want to ruin whatever this is by admitting how much last night meant to me. I feel like I drove you away years ago. But I want you to know how much you being there for me meant to me.”
He looked at me for what felt like a long time. Eyes steady. Then, slowly, he stepped closer. This time, he was close enough that the scent of his woodsy body wash drifted over me, clean and sharp with a hint of sweetness underneath. It wrapped around mebefore he even touched me, like his presence had weight or gravity.
“It felt like something to me, too,” he whispered. “Then again, you have always felt like something to me. You let me in this time. That’s not nothing.”
