“You don’t know that I got so turned on that I came before we could go any further?” he asks.

My mouth falls open. It is quite literally the last thing I expected him to say.

“You what?”

He throws his head into his hands. The fire pops.

“Oh god,” he says. “Oh my god.”

My eyes are practically bug-shaped.

“Oh my god,” I say.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbles into his fingers. “I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t,” I say. “I thought…when I told you to stop…I thought you were annoyed but okay about it.”

“I was annoyed,” he says. “At myself. For being too drunk and out of control. For acting like a horny teenage boy. For getting off and then not getting you off.”

Suddenly our awkward interaction after the fact takes on a whole different meaning.

“You wanted to—?”

“Very much,” he says.

“Well,” I say. “I didn’t know.”

His face is still flushed and it’s adorable. My heart feels like it’s contracting and expanding at the same time.

“I don’t know whether I should be relieved that it’s all out there or horrified that I just told you,” he says.

“It’s kind of charming,” I say. “That you wanted to, but couldn’t.”

“Hold on,” Gabe says, his hand up. “I still could have.”

The indignation in his voice makes me bite back a laugh.

“But you just said…”

He moves toward me. My laughter quickly cuts off, my mouth going dry at the look in his eyes. We’re no longer joking about something that happened ten years ago. We’re not joking at all.

“I would have needed some time, but that wouldn’t have been a problem. It won’t be a problem.” His voice is a low growl. “It’s not a problem.”

I swallow. Hard.

It’s not just about us talking about something that happened back then. It’s about what’s happening now. Between us.

Back to what has felt inevitable since I accepted this assignment.

“It’s not a problem?” I ask, even though I know I’m poking the bear.

I’m wobbly and nervous and not one hundred percent sure that this isn’t a terrible life-altering mistake, but I also know that this is it.

Gabe might not be in a rush, but all of a sudden, I am.

After all, it’s been ten years.

He looks at me.

“It’s not a problem,” he says. “With you, I…”

“You…?”

“I want you,” Gabe says. “I’ve wanted you. Since the first moment.”

It’s so simple and direct.

“Yeah,” I say. “Okay.”

He blinks.

“Okay?”

I nod.

“Okay.”