His eyes widen with surprise and something I can’t decipher.

I drop my hand and search his gaze. “You wanna know how I know this is real?”

He blinks slowly and gives me a single nod.

“Your pupils are dilated,” I say simply.

A wrinkle forms between his brows. I lower my finger, dragging it down the smooth column of his neck. He tenses as I drag my hand to the center of his chest, spreading my fingers wide, and pressing fully against him through his shirt.

“Your heart is racing,” I whisper.

He releases a shaky breath.

I suck in my cheek. Knowing I’m probably way out of line, but unable to stop myself—not when his eyes all but beg for reassurance—I drop my hand to his cock, grabbing him firmly through his sweats. A surprised whimper escapes him, and fuck, if that isn’t the hottest sound I’ve ever heard.

“And you’re hard.”

His eyes flare.

“You might not be able to trust what you feel,” I tell him, easing my hand back so I’m no longer touching him, “but your body doesn’t lie.” I lean forward just enough to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “It fucking sings for me.”

He blinks dazedly.

I take a step back until the hard wood of the doorframe digs once more into my back. I tighten the knot on the towel, not once taking my eyes off Waylon. “You’re attracted to me, just as I’m attracted to you. You liked kissing me—more than liked it, I’d say.” I swallow what feels like a rock lodged in my throat. “With that being said, you still call the shots here. If you want me to stop, I stop. No matter what. If you can’t trust anything else, trust in that.” I pause meaningfully. “You’re safe with me.”

His brow furrows and then he looks down, as if searching for an answer to an impossible question. One that is buried in the fibers of his cream carpet.

Eventually, he whispers, “I know that.”

I can’t even be sure the words were for me, but I hear them nonetheless, and everything in me seems to grind to a halt.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

He looks up then, searching my gaze with an unreadable, yet determined expression I’ve never seen on his face before. “And you need to trust me when I tell you I want to try. I might not know where we go from here, but right now—in this fucking second—I am saying yes. And I don’t know if that’s enough for you. I know it’s not fair to ask of you, after what you told me that morning on the porch. But right now, I want this. I want you. I need—”