Intent [Wattys 2017]

Chapter 72

Emma

How can one person emit so much natural warmth? I swear, his skin is like basking in the sun on the first day of spring after months and months of frosty frigid weather. It's all consuming.

He feels exquisite.

I don't know how long we've been wrapped up in each other arms. The sun went down a little while ago but neither of us are bothered with the time.

We're in our own little indestructible bubble, blissfully and completely exhausted having lost ourselves in each other over and over and over...

My head's still spinning.

His stamina is something directly from the gods. Really he's incredible.

Nothing and no one can touch us. I feel so incredibly safe, miles away from the shattered glass and nightmares of my past. Harry smudges them all out.

But still I've been walking around in a lingering and numbing haze of nervousness since last weekend. Harry is so spontaneous with his little talks. All week I've been worrying that he'll bring up what we promised even after I told him I would eventually. But after what we've just done to each other the feelings brought on by the events of last weekend are completely gone.

It's nearly impossible to comprehend how good I feel right now. All he's doing is feathering his fingertips up and down my arm but it is the sweetest gesture in the whole world. I swear if we both lost the ability to speak this little action would speak volumes.

He's here for me, like really here.

If that's true then why one earth can't I just grow a pair and tell him the truth? My subconscious taunts me.

Because it would hurt him idiot.

It's true.

Telling him would hurt him. Harry would take on responsibility like the kind hearted person he is and carry it with him everywhere. He thinks he needs to protect me from the world, and I get that but he doesn't deserve to feel that about things that happened years ago.

He's sentimental. Far more nostalgic than I am. I mean you don't keep a necklace of your childhood best friend and then give it back to her years later if you're not.

I love that he kept it. I haven't taken the necklace off since he gave it to me for my birthday a few months ago.

It was so sweet. I've never had such a sweet moment in my entire life. Actually all the sweet moments in my life involve Harry.

"Em?" Harry breaks through the silence with that sexy voice of his.

"Yeah?" Shifting round to look up at him from my place on his shoulder.

"Why were you so interested in the man I was speaking with at the rink babe?"

Shit.

Bubble burst.

My blood instantly runs cold.

Out of all the things in the world to bring up now I never expected it to be that. Actually I never expected him to bring that up at all.

He was so heated that night, focusing on everything but my little comment. In the grand scheme of things it was so insignificant, buried in the muddle of snaps and silent pauses, I never thought he would remember.

"He didn't see me did he?"–I can't believe I said that. The one moment I needed to have some control over my actions and I just let it slip and now I'm in this mess.