I could feel it.
I mattered to him too. He’d shown me that the entire week and this forced proximity just proved it once again.
The slight tension in his arms whenever I shifted.
The way his heartbeat sped up every now and then before settling again.
The way he kept adjusting his grip like he was terrified of dropping me despite the fact that I seriously doubted a tornado could pry me out of those arms.
He was nervous.
Elias.
The man who routinely ran toward danger for a living.
The realization settled somewhere deep in my chest and stayed there. Blooming.
Because he wasn't nervous about the surprise.
He was nervous about whether I'd like it.
And nobody had ever cared about my happiness enough to be nervous about it.
Not really.
I swallowed.
Hard.
The stupid thing was that
