Chapter 71: Orion

Thursday. Luxe Ibiza Hostel, Cala Gració, Ibiza.

ORION KNEW JENNIFER WASN'T asking how she began disappointing him. Her mind had moved down another path in the silence. One that he prayed meant opening doors to a possibility she had been closed to.

He lifted a hand, smoothing her hair back even though there wasn't anything for him to adjust. There was pleasure in the act of touching her.

Orion felt as though the small thing he'd spent the last few years nurturing suddenly sprang up, dwarfing him. The way Jennifer stared at him now, he felt as though he could see into her soul. Even earlier on the boat, she hadn't been this open to him. He didn't know what had changed or if he'd finally said the right thing to make her see the real him, but he was humbled.

Did he deserve this?

No.

What he said and did mattered right now.

They were balanced on the brink of something new. Something that scared her.