“There’s so much I’ve gotten wrong with you,” he said, with his lips so close to my skin they rubbed my temple when he talked. “But I need you to know, that there is nothing, not a damn thing about you, that I would change.” Hating myself for needing him, I pushed my face into his chest and inhaled the mix of sleep sweat and hint of cologne on his T-shirt. “Just being around you makes me better, challenges everything I thought I knew about commitment and endurance.” I scoffed at that.

“You’re an Olympian, Theo.” My verbal eye roll came out muffled, but I could feel his head shaking and then he kissed the top of mine.

“Which means I know a champion when I see one.” He placed a finger under my chin and gently brushed his lips along my brow. “It’s not that you can’t win this race, Alba. It’s that they keep moving the goalposts on you. All I want is to help. Even if all you let me do is cheer you on.” I wanted to soak up his words like a sponge. Let them burrow inside me. Snatch them up and believe them, but I knew better. I knew what was likely awaiting us this morning at the set.

I sighed and tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me and I was much too weary to fight it. I let him rock me and soothe me like any of this was real until my phone buzzed, reminding me that I had to get ready to get to the set.

“Filming is in three hours, we might as well get this over with,” I grumbled, pulling back, and this time he let me go.

“I fucked up by using this show as an excuse to get closer to you.”

It was a statement, not a question, and I didn’t argue. Because he was right that this had not turned out like either of us imagined. But I wasn’t going to let him shoulder the blame alone.

“It looked good on paper,” I told him. “I’d probably do it again if I got the chance, despite how much dealing with Chase and Kayla has aggravated me. And even with the bullshit, at least I will get the visibility once the show airs.” I shrugged. “And it was a great project. The library turned out beautiful and it’s going to serve a lot of families.” And I was grateful that I got to work on it. I just wished it hadn’t taken so much out of me and that I’d been treated with respect. That I didn’t feel so worn out and demoralized by the process. “Also this was by far the biggest project I’ve worked on and you weren’t terrible to be around.” I added a grin, to let him know I was teasing.