A girl chasing her dream. A boy looking for the light.
When Florence Nyx started her internship at a Formula 1 paddock, she expected a lot. Fast cars. Exclusive impressions most people could only dream of. An entire array of skills she'd acquire...
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My heart stopped.
I'm nothing if not unconditionally in love with you.
The words kept playing in my head like a broken record, utterly uprooting every inch of my soul.
And as I stared at Phoenix, as I watched his caramel eyes dance with emotion that was potent enough to steal the air right out of my lungs, I knew he was telling the truth. Everything he'd said or done over the past weeks had confirmed that.
Phoenix paid attention to me, respected my boundaries, and yet knew when to push me to my limits. He knew how to be fierce, uncompromising, and determined. But he could also be gentle in a way that was foreign to me — the tenderness of his touch was the most unique thing I'd ever experienced.
"Why?" I didn't know the question lingered in my mind until it left my lips. "Why tell me this now?"
The heat of his gaze brought me back to reality, back to the half-naked man standing in front of me. It must've been his tattooed torso that fried my brain; or maybe it was his intoxicating scent that burned straight through my nostrils... Either way, I had a hard time focusing on the situation at hand.
"Why not?" he asked, his grip on my neck tightening almost imperceptibly. It was like he was making sure I didn't run away, though his touch was still tender when he cocked his head to the side. "I thought that much was obvious since I first laid eyes on you ten years ago."
His smile was cocky but sincere, with a pinch of regret that made my heart ache. I wanted to ask him about our past, wanted to know more about what had driven him to the decisions he'd made.
We'd never had the time to talk about us or what had happened to our teenage selves. My job required a lot of my time, and while Phoenix never asked me to prioritize him, it seemed like it was time that I started doing so.
Because I couldn't stop wondering about his intentions, about his principles and ideas. There was a whole lot I still didn't know about him, and I had so many things to ask that I didn't even know where to start.
Phoenix must've seen the questions in my eyes, his voice soft as he addressed me again. "I've made an entire encyclopedia worth of mistakes back then, Flo. Falling for you wasn't one of them."
I swallowed hard.
Every conscious part of my body wanted to tell him I felt the same, that I hadn't been able to look at any other person the way I'd looked at him in the past ten years. I wanted to tell him that just his mere presence calmed yet exhilarated me. It was so damn important to me that he knew how much I loved who I was with him.
And yet, I said nothing at all.
Words rarely failed me. Usually, I was quick on my toes and knew how to express my emotions and thoughts. But with Phoenix, my sharpness went straight out the window and into the pits of my stomach, forging an entire herd of butterflies that must've been made of steel with how indestructible they were.
