A few more moments of silence passed, and I took my first glance at Daniel, his blue eyes sparkling with their own tears.
“Thank you,” I whispered, reaching to grab his other hand.
He let go to cradle my face, rubbing my tears away with his thumbs.
“I think I needed it, too. So, thank you. Thank you for pushing me on this trip.”
We stood there, washed clean, studying the version of each other left behind.
I wasn’t sure who moved first. I wasn’t sure it mattered. I pressed up as he dipped down, and our mouths connected softly, afraid to break the fragile moment we’d created.
He drank from my lips, stroked them with his tongue, and I happily opened, needing to taste him. Sliding my arms around his waist, I held on tight, letting the intensity of us kissing wash over me.
We kissed and kissed. Not because we were at Voyeur and this was another lesson to help me accept touch. No, this was because I was Hanna, and he was Daniel, and we wanted to.
What that meant, I didn’t know, but I definitely didn’t care right then. Rules be damned.
Our kiss slowed to simple pecks and lingering tastes until we stopped, resting our foreheads together. I waited for him to tell me we shouldn’t have done that. That kissing was a mistake. That we should forget it happened.
Instead, he whispered. “We should head back before it gets dark.”
Unable to help it, I groaned, and he laughed. “Can you carry me?”
“Not a chance in hell.”
I glared but smiled too, hoisting my backpack, ready to leave this cliff behind and everything I set free with it.
That night we didn’t touch or talk about the kiss or act like anything had changed—and maybe it hadn’t. Maybe what happened on the cliff in a moment of extreme emotions, stayed on the cliff. Which didn’t sound terrible.
We started a fire and had a quiet dinner before crawling into our beds. But as soon as my head hit the pillow, I got back up and crept to his room. The door creaked as I slid it open, and he rolled over, the light from the hallway revealing his scrunched brows.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, stepping further in the room. “Can I sleep with you tonight? I don’t want to be alone.”
He paused for only a second before scooting to the left. “Of course. Sure.”
I climbed in, and without hesitation, he pulled me into his bare chest. We didn’t discuss if this broke any rules or what issue this was helping me with. In that moment, we were two people finding comfort in each other after a long day.
I curled up like I belonged there, and in moments fell asleep, one final thought following me into sleep.
I was falling for Daniel, and I never wanted to let this go.
19
Daniel
“Are you okay?”
Hanna glanced away from the window and offered a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah. It’s just been a long time since I’ve been to the beach.”
“I’m so sorry. If I would have known…” I’d almost called the whole thing off when she’d told me she hadn’t been to the beach since her vacation where she and Sofia were taken. She’d promised me everything was fine, and I’d made some phone calls to ensure she didn’t question her safety at all.
“No,” she rushed to reassure, fully facing me in the backseat now. “It’s okay. I’m with you. I’m okay.”
That shouldn’t make me feel as good as it did, like superman ready to conquer anything for her.
Something shifted between us in the mountains. I’d kissed her. Not for her or some effort to help her, but for me. Because I wanted to, and despite her crawling in my bed each night, curling into my chest, we hadn’t done it again.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Every night I thought about it, and every night I convinced myself it was a mistake. We were friends. Friends supporting one another. Friends that didn’t kiss because it made us feel better than we had in years. Friends who’d specifically made a rule to not kiss to avoid the feelings tickling my chest.
“I hope you like it.”
“I have no doubt.” She beamed at me, her green eyes shining under the flashes of sunlight pouring in. “I can’t believe you expedited a passport.”
“It helps when you have certain clients at Voyeur and a bit of luck. A little cancellation and pushing a paper to the top and viola—a passport in less than two weeks.” Looking past her shoulder, I saw the large cream archways greeting us. “We’re here.”
She whirled around and, like a kid in a candy shop, she pressed as close to the glass as possible. “Holy. Shit,” she said, her breath fogging the glass. “This hotel is huge.”
“We’re actually not staying in the hotel.”