CHAPTER TEN : Kiss Me Like You’re Not Hiding Something12Please respect copyright.PENANAX2xjrp4Wuw
(Her POV)
He touched her the same way.12Please respect copyright.PENANA9nGrbaoHha
His hands were still gentle.12Please respect copyright.PENANABpdpw9DoOy
Still slow.12Please respect copyright.PENANAsPIScleBtu
Still reverent.
But his kiss?
His kiss… had changed.
She couldn’t explain it—not with words.12Please respect copyright.PENANA8B8WWLv5ux
But she felt it.12Please respect copyright.PENANADQ1hkPrlHP
Somewhere between the breath he took before his lips met hers…12Please respect copyright.PENANA1nrG5Z60pL
and the silence afterward.
There was a kind of goodbye in it.12Please respect copyright.PENANAE19k0by37N
A kind of “I might not get to do this again.”
He pulled away too soon that morning.12Please respect copyright.PENANAOiLsh1gAYA
Said something about needing to “review files.”12Please respect copyright.PENANAOaGrMkdi3X
Didn’t kiss her forehead like he always did.12Please respect copyright.PENANAbtNtiQWR8G
Didn’t ask her what she wanted for dinner.
And yet, he looked at her like she was his air.
It was confusing as hell.
She spent the rest of the day pacing in her apartment.
Staring at her phone.12Please respect copyright.PENANAr7YyLsHFD7
Checking if he’d text.12Please respect copyright.PENANA6lwUzkYSlb
Telling herself not to overthink.
But every woman who’s ever been loved and then unloved knows this feeling.
That gut-level ache.
By nightfall, she was in front of his clinic.
No appointment.12Please respect copyright.PENANAKevJiFfd6e
No plan.12Please respect copyright.PENANAImZQn2eLkm
Just need.
She knocked.
He opened.12Please respect copyright.PENANAmnUyPU3P4K
Surprised.12Please respect copyright.PENANArAXJCyZs5V
Shirt slightly damp.12Please respect copyright.PENANArbW58iOMNB
Hair tousled.12Please respect copyright.PENANATThyLnf6V2
Eyes tired.
But his lips curved. “You’re here.”
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said softly.
“Neither could I,” he whispered.
He let her in.
She stepped close.12Please respect copyright.PENANA92ychcwnl9
Tugged gently at his shirt.
“I want you to kiss me,” she said. “But this time…”
He looked down at her, brows furrowing.
“…kiss me like you’re not hiding something.”
Silence.
His jaw tensed.12Please respect copyright.PENANAAcmqw55ZJi
Hands flexed at his sides.
Then, slowly… painfully… he leaned in.
And kissed her.
It was warm.12Please respect copyright.PENANAEH2ZOzMkWT
It was slow.12Please respect copyright.PENANADiaBSQnLmk
But it wasn’t honest.
Because she felt the tremble in his hand.12Please respect copyright.PENANA2rvECtt7op
Felt how tightly he was holding back.12Please respect copyright.PENANAOhd2HZcbht
Felt how scared he was to give in.
When he pulled away, her eyes were wet.
“You’re scared,” she whispered.
He didn’t deny it.
“What are you afraid of, Matteo?”
His answer came barely above a whisper:
ns216.73.216.12da2“That if you knew everything…12Please respect copyright.PENANAJo2Mtq9Kaw
you’d never kiss me again.”