There is a reason this gets done in stages. A want that has only ever been a feeling stays vague and therefore safe; the moment it becomes a sentence it can be disappointed, judged or held against you. Saying it in your head first is a real step rather than a dodge, since the sentence has to exist somewhere before it can exist anywhere else. Out loud is the second step, and smaller than it looks.

Do the first one tonight, in actual words rather than a mood. Then pick the safest listener you have for the second, one sentence, no justification. Nothing has to happen next.