Sophie gave a hard blink, opening the door wider. “I mean, come in. I didn’t—this is so unexpected.”

“You’re here late.” His voice rumbled through the darkness. “I stopped by the house first.”

She closed the door and turned to face him. “I was working on my apartment. You just missed my family.”

His eyebrows rose. “What were they doing here?”

“Helping me clean and paint. It’s almost finished. They brought my stuff from home and everything.”

“That’s great.” His gaze shifted downward before he looked at her again, his eyes growing intense. Time suspended, the moment drawing out between them. “I got your text, Sophie. Thank you for that. I wanted to talk in person—obviously.”

He’d come such a long way. That had to be good, right? Sophie’s lungs struggled to keep pace with her heart.

“You want to go upstairs? I have furniture and everything.”

He huffed a laugh. “I couldn’t sit still right now if I tried. I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past week. I talked to my dad. I came to some realizations.”

“You did?”

He pinned her with an unswerving look. “Monday night when we argued—I was pushing you away. And you don’t deserve that.”

Nerves jangling, she gave him an encouraging smile, hoping he’d continue.

He ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know if I ever told you, I remember my parents arguing. My dad told me they’d always gotten along well until he got laid off. Then he and my mom hit a rough patch, and she up and left. So I guess somewhere along the line I started believing that when the going gets tough . . . people leave.”

Sophie’s heart went soft and squishy at his words, his vulnerability. At the little boy who watched his mother drive away from him and never return.

“Oh, Aiden.”

“You and I had that argument seven years ago—do you remember? And right on the heels of that, Ross presented me with an opportunity. But I see now it wasn’t just the business opportunity that appealed to me. It was my chance to leave you—before you left me.”

“But, Aiden . . .” Sophie set a hand on her throat. “I was never going to leave you.”

“I know that now. But after that argument I was having so much anxiety. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat. I didn’t understand it at the time, but looking back, I can see what was going on. I let fear take control. I might’ve even sabotaged our relationship. I loved you so much, and I was afraid you’d break up with me. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when it didn’t . . . I dropped it myself. I’m sorry for that.”