control
I said quietly.
"Don't be sorry," Eli said. "Just decide. Are you all in, or are we wasting each other's time?"
The question hung between us.
"I'm scared," I said finally. "Of what it means to claim this publicly. Of what it means to stop hiding. Of what people will think if they know that I'm—" I stopped myself.
"That you're what?" Eli asked. "In love with someone? That you're willing to be vulnerable?"
"Yes," I said, and the word came out barely audible.