All Chapters of The Way He Looked at Me: Chapter 191 - Chapter 195

"I'll stay out front," I said before he could work up the words. "Living room, kitchen, my room. Like we agreed. I won't go anywhere else."He pushed his hair back from his face, those loose strands that were always falling forward but they dropped right back down the second he moved his hand. Then he gave me this small dip of his chin, somewhere between a nod and a thank you, and walked out.The door clicked shut.And the house became a completely different place without him in it.I stood in the middle of it for a moment, not quite sure what to do with my hands or my feet or any of the restless energy moving through me. It was strange Jace barely spoke, barely took up space, and yet somehow every room felt hollowed out now that he was gone.I went for the box.I already knew everything inside it by heart, but I needed something to do with my hands, and the familiar weight of it was a comfort. My mother's letters came first folded careful, written in her handwriting, like she'd kn

Words would have to come eventually, but neither of us rushed them.Tim grabbed his phone and let music fill the kitchen while he tidied up. I had no idea whose voice was pouring through the speakers, but it clearly meant something to him. He swayed and sang along, waving a spatula like a conductor, completely lost in the melody."Taylor is everything," he announced proudly, doing a little spin that sent heat rushing straight through me.You're everything too. The thought settled in my chest before I could chase it away. This time, I let it stay.Once the kitchen was clean, he curled up with a book. I opened my laptop and found myself doing something I never imagined I would searching for streaming platforms so he wouldn't get bored. I had spent years building a life away from the noise of the world, and here I was, less than a week later, trying to make my cabin comfortable for someone else.I eventually picked up a book of my own, settled into my chair, and tried to focus. But my e

I was shattered anyway."Heaven," I managed, after a long moment of ceiling-staring. "That was actual heaven. Did you was it okay for you too?""Yes." A pause. "Taking you like that. Having you that way. I liked it more than I expected.""You cannot just say things like that casually. I'm a fragile person, Jace."A sound in his chest. Not quite a laugh but moving in that direction.He drew me in then, one arm pulling me flat against him, a hand pressing my head to his chest so my face was buried there and I couldn't watch him be vulnerable. The room settled around us, quiet and warm.Then, after a long while:"Tomorrow.""Tomorrow what?" I murmured into his shirt."The chair. I'll show you how to build it."Something unlocked in my chest, slow and golden and certain.I closed my eyes and pressed closer and didn't say a single word, because some things are too right to interrupt with language.Jace pov The wood shavings curled to the floor in thin ribbons, and Tim's voice broke the qu