Oh. Well, then. It was not that you’ve made me very happy wasn’t a pleasing thing to hear – he was glad of it, if it was true – but that it didn’t quite match what he had in his chest. That settled it, then: he could hardly answer that sentence with I love you. It would be proportionally wrong. She would think him ridiculous. Entirely ridiculous. He could see it now.
So she had kissed him on the cheek, so she was lying very close, her hand on him, her bare skin warm, and everything felt quiet and soft and safe – but now Evander was in his head again. And so, whatever she’d said, he felt a flicker of unease, or embarrassment, or something else; he managed a smile in gratitude, but that was all. Maybe it was better they didn’t talk now, after all; maybe it was better he found some distance before they did. I love you – there was no use in putting that on her, was there?
Evander raised a hand to brush a strand of hair off her face for her, used his other to hold her there beside him. “Caroline,” he only said, as gently as he dared, “you should sleep.”
So she had kissed him on the cheek, so she was lying very close, her hand on him, her bare skin warm, and everything felt quiet and soft and safe – but now Evander was in his head again. And so, whatever she’d said, he felt a flicker of unease, or embarrassment, or something else; he managed a smile in gratitude, but that was all. Maybe it was better they didn’t talk now, after all; maybe it was better he found some distance before they did. I love you – there was no use in putting that on her, was there?
Evander raised a hand to brush a strand of hair off her face for her, used his other to hold her there beside him. “Caroline,” he only said, as gently as he dared, “you should sleep.”
