CHAPTER TEN : Kiss Me Like You’re Not Hiding Something14Please respect copyright.PENANAgAUup7AJwl
(Her POV)
He touched her the same way.14Please respect copyright.PENANA69JCLfXAED
His hands were still gentle.14Please respect copyright.PENANAu81Bs92xuZ
Still slow.14Please respect copyright.PENANATbMFT6qPeH
Still reverent.
But his kiss?
His kiss… had changed.
She couldn’t explain it—not with words.14Please respect copyright.PENANAyjlGVV2PFA
But she felt it.14Please respect copyright.PENANADuF5ppGhXB
Somewhere between the breath he took before his lips met hers…14Please respect copyright.PENANAIszzSbXjFu
and the silence afterward.
There was a kind of goodbye in it.14Please respect copyright.PENANANvK0l4GIHf
A kind of “I might not get to do this again.”
He pulled away too soon that morning.14Please respect copyright.PENANAeMQlsawzmg
Said something about needing to “review files.”14Please respect copyright.PENANA0R9kpeh8iY
Didn’t kiss her forehead like he always did.14Please respect copyright.PENANAmGUPoR4FRk
Didn’t ask her what she wanted for dinner.
And yet, he looked at her like she was his air.
It was confusing as hell.
She spent the rest of the day pacing in her apartment.
Staring at her phone.14Please respect copyright.PENANAJjBmKtQbLb
Checking if he’d text.14Please respect copyright.PENANAsLvQQUlsGD
Telling herself not to overthink.
But every woman who’s ever been loved and then unloved knows this feeling.
That gut-level ache.
By nightfall, she was in front of his clinic.
No appointment.14Please respect copyright.PENANAlcEN1WdQyR
No plan.14Please respect copyright.PENANAQzYwn4ULWt
Just need.
She knocked.
He opened.14Please respect copyright.PENANAYDCfpDNm1F
Surprised.14Please respect copyright.PENANAwrIzMalyId
Shirt slightly damp.14Please respect copyright.PENANAKYbbSUE42j
Hair tousled.14Please respect copyright.PENANA1wYKCZcrkP
Eyes tired.
But his lips curved. “You’re here.”
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said softly.
“Neither could I,” he whispered.
He let her in.
She stepped close.14Please respect copyright.PENANAy3LX7h7E3I
Tugged gently at his shirt.
“I want you to kiss me,” she said. “But this time…”
He looked down at her, brows furrowing.
“…kiss me like you’re not hiding something.”
Silence.
His jaw tensed.14Please respect copyright.PENANAO0mUWJ38RU
Hands flexed at his sides.
Then, slowly… painfully… he leaned in.
And kissed her.
It was warm.14Please respect copyright.PENANAEHNnzJuyXj
It was slow.14Please respect copyright.PENANA6X0JriiiPa
But it wasn’t honest.
Because she felt the tremble in his hand.14Please respect copyright.PENANAjTOiJATYWn
Felt how tightly he was holding back.14Please respect copyright.PENANAAGCvSSimW3
Felt how scared he was to give in.
When he pulled away, her eyes were wet.
“You’re scared,” she whispered.
He didn’t deny it.
“What are you afraid of, Matteo?”
His answer came barely above a whisper:
ns216.73.216.203da2“That if you knew everything…14Please respect copyright.PENANANOO4ZOjQpP
you’d never kiss me again.”