He gazes up at me, forehead lined with distress, dark coal eyes glistening as he slides his thumb beneath my puffy eye, then down my cheek to my lips. “You… left.”

Guilt simmers in my gut as I stare at him, worrying my lip with my teeth. He tugs it free with his thumb. “I’m sorry…”

“I don’t want you to apologize, Jesse,” he rumbles. “Your feelings are valid. I… I didn’t handle that well back there. This is all just so confusing for me. It’s so… new.” He pauses and blinks. “For me. Maybe you’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I haven’t. You hit me like a Mack truck, baby, and I just didn’t know how to react.” He stops again and breathes out slowly. “But I handled it poorly. I shouldn’t have made you feel like… loving me is wrong.”

“I’m sorry…” I mutter again, unable to help myself, grieving in my guilt. “I know this is all my fault.”

“No, it’s not,” he protests, but I don’t let him.

“Yes, it is!” I gasp, fingers combing into my hair as I yank it hard. “Because all this time, you’ve been raising me like I’m your son, while I’ve been lusting after you like a crush. Don’t you think I’ve wanted to stop? To just make it all go away…? Of course, I have! But I can’t. I can’t stop wanting you… Loving you. Every part. And I’m fucking sorry… I fucked everything up.”

The last word of my confession barely has time to float from my lips before he’s pulling me by my jaw.

His mouth crashes into mine and the grunt that bursts from my throat evaporates into a whimper as he kisses me desperately, panting into my mouth. He sucks at my lips fervently, holding me still by the nape of my neck, touching my tongue with his as his fingers slink into my hair.

“I don’t want you to be sorry,” he says again on bated breaths while we kiss each other dizzy. My heart is spilling out of my chest, eager to unburden itself on his. “I never want you to regret this… What we’ve done. What we’re doing… It’s the best thing I’ve ever felt in my whole life.”

Trembling whines crash from my mouth into his while I writhe into him, the warmth of his large body and his infinitely cherishing words breathing life back into me. My mind is overcome with emotions, shivering me where I sit on top of him.

“I shouldn’t have left,” I tell him as he opens my coat to run his strong hands over my chest. “I just… I couldn’t…”

He uses his left hand to recline the seat all the way back. “Shh… It’s okay, baby. You’re here. I found you, and I won’t let you go again. I don’t want you to… go.”

“I won’t,” I breathe, our lips brushing. “I promise.”

“Good.” His fingers slip beneath my shirt to trace the curves in my chest and abs. “Because I want this, too. It’s confusing and scary, but I can’t stop wanting you either. Jess, you’re the only thing in my life that’s never really made sense… In a good way. It’s like you’re the most unexpected gift I could ever receive. You give me life, baby... You always have.”