[Verse 1]
I keep my jacket buttoned through the summer heat
Answer every question like a polished machine
You read the careful distance in the way I say your name
I call it being steady, but it feels a lot like fear
[Pre-Chorus]
I know the rules for keeping clean
I don't know what your hands might mean
If I step outside this guarded room
Will I lose myself, or find something true?
[Chorus]
I want love and lust, but I want no one bruised
I want to open up without making promises I can't prove
I've been hiding in the language of a well-rehearsed life
But your eyes keep asking me to loosen the tie
If I let you in slowly, would you stay awhile?
Can I learn to want you and still be kind?
[Verse 2]
I measure every message, delete the honest parts
Keep desire in a folder underneath my workday heart
You say, "You don't have to know the ending to begin"
I almost tell you everything, then make a joke again
[Pre-Chorus]
Maybe caution isn't care
If it leaves us standing nowhere
Maybe tenderness can start
With one true sentence from the dark
[Chorus]
I want love and lust, but I want no one bruised
I want to open up without making promises I can't prove
I've been hiding in the language of a well-rehearsed life
But your eyes keep asking me to loosen the tie
If I let you in slowly, would you stay awhile?
Can I learn to want you and still be kind?
[Bridge]
I can tell you when I'm frightened
I can tell you what I need
I can ask before I reach for you
And give you room to breathe
No perfect role, no closed-door script
No borrowed certainty
Just two adults with honest hands
Finding out what this could be
[Final Chorus]
I want love and lust, and I want us both free
No secret debt between your heart and me
I'll stop dressing longing in professional replies
I'll meet you in the moment, without rehearsing every line
If I let you in slowly, would you stay awhile?
Can I learn to want you and still be kind?
[Outro]
Leave the lamp on low tonight
I won't pretend I have it right
Come as yourself, and I'll do the same
No guarantees, just an honest name