Page 116 of Micah

“You absolutely blush.”

I grin, but I stop pushing the point because I know arguing with her would only make it worse.

And I don’t want her to be uncomfortable.

I want her to be happy.

But I don't know how to do this.

I don't flirt.

Hell, I barely talk.

People have always been harder for me to understand than computers.

Computers make sense.

Networks make sense.

Firewalls, algorithms, encryption... they all follow rules.

People don't.

Women definitely don't.

The handful of times I've ended up in bed with someone over the years...

It was never like this.

Never emotional.

Never personal.

Just two bodies meeting in the dark, scratching an itch before going their separate ways the next morning.

Easy.

Clean.

Forgettable.

Sloane isn't any of those things.

She's impossible to forget.

Somewhere between watching her unload heavy boxes by herself, changing the filters in her van because I noticed she was coughing, and kissing her behind The Watering Hole...

I'd crossed a line inside myself.

I stopped wanting her just for a night.

I started wanting her for every night, every day, every tomorrow I've got left.

That's new.

And if I'm honest?

It scares the absolute shit out of me.