"This doesn't fix anything," she whispered, voice thick with restraint.
"I know," he said, his breath brushing her lips.
"But I don't care. Not tonight."
Alex didn't say anything right away. He just looked at her, like he was trying to memorise the edges of her pain. The kiss hadn't startled him, not really.
What startled him was the weight behind it, the desperation it carried like a hidden wound.
"Come here," he said finally in a low, coaxing voice.
She took a breath and closed the tiny space that existed between them. Alex held her like he meant it, steady and solid.
"I don't say it much," Alex said in a whisper, "but you're the only thing that's given me a reason to defy authority and go against all the things I was raised to be."
Her breath caught, and before she could respond, he pulled her close, his lips capturing hers in a kiss that stole the air from her lungs.
