“Willa, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
My heart began beating faster.
“Please don’t say that unless you mean it.”
“I mean it.”
He put his mug on the step beside him.
“When you told me how you felt, I was scared. Not because I didn’t care about you, but because I knew what it would mean if I admitted that I felt something, too.”
I could barely breathe.
“You feel something for me?”
He laughed nervously.
“Willa, I think I’ve been trying not to fall in love with you for longer than I want to admit.”
I looked away.
For months, I had imagined hearing those words.
Now that they were finally spoken, I felt no triumph.
Only fear.
“Then we have to be careful,” I whispered.
He nodded.
“I’m not asking you to make any promises.”
“Good. Because I can’t be the reason you leave someone.”
