“I love you.” He says the words on a relieved exhale, making his chest hum against me.
“I knew it!” a tiny voice cheers from the bunk underneath us.
We startle apart. Well, I pull away. Anders is as immovable as a brick wall, draping his heavy arm over my waist and chuckling.
“Yeah, yeah. Go back to sleep, Im.” He uses his Dad Voice on her, which never seems to work.
“I tried to, but you guys are talking so much and I have to hear it.” She yawns.
“You don’t have to hear it. This is a Sunny and Dad talk. Imogen needs to sleep.”
“I can’t. I need Hairy,” she whines.
I squeeze Anders tight waist, silently asking for permission. He nods.
“Hey Im?” My voice seems loud in this small room.
“Yeah?”
“What if your dad sleeps with you instead of Hairy tonight? He’s also big and stinky.”
Imogen giggles. “Yeah, he is.”
“Thanks a lot, girls,” he gripes, even as he moves toward the ladder. He pauses, turning back toward me. He leans down to kiss my forehead, lingering. “I’m thinking about what you said. I promise,” he murmurs against my temple.
“Yeah?” I whisper.
“Yeah. Just didn’t want to leave you hanging.”
“Okay.” I feel the ax dangling over me, even as he says those words that are meant to be reassuring. He wouldn’t be the first guy who had to “think it through” only to reject me in the end. This time is different, though. I’ve never had this conversation with someone when I’m in this deep. Even with Blake in high school, the feelings weren’t this intense. I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight.
I wonder if there are any more of those chocolate balls downstairs?
24. Anders Brushes It Off
Sunny’s voice grumbles from somewhere above me, pulling me out of a deep sleep. “Joe?” Her sleep-roughened voice cuts through the darkness. “It's so late…er, early.”
It finally registers that I’m in my childhood bunk bed and last night Sunny told me she loves me. Or maybe it was tonight. It's hard to gauge the time in the dark. Either way, the memory of Sunny’s words and the way it felt having her pressed against me kickstarts my heart.
I’m sweating in this tiny bed. Imogen is a heater and her warm, pudgy toes are smooshed into my cheek. She does tumbling routines in her sleep. I push her foot away with a groan. Between thoughts of Sunny and the sporadic kicks to the face, I didn’t sleep well. I swipe my phone to check the time. It’s five in the morning. I’ve missed some calls from Oliver, Christopher, and some unknown Utah numbers.
“What?” Sunny shrieks. “No!” She clambers down the wobbly ladder. “Anders. Anders, wake up!”
I bolt upright, whacking my head on the unforgiving bottom side of the top bunk. Sunny drags me up from the bed with strength I didn’t know she had.
“What?” I’m fighting to stay calm, but her tone is making my fight or flight response engage. I’ve never seen her lose it like this. She’s stuffing everything into her bag—dirty clothes, shoes, her charger, and a familiar cottage cheese container.Chokladbollar?
She hisses into the phone, “Yes, I’m with Anders. Lecture me later! How bad is it?” Her rushed question shoots through the quiet bedroom. Immy rolls over and curls into a ball. “Did they get it out? Is it even out yet?”
I can almost make out Joe’s sharp response, but what I think I heard can’t be right. Fire? There’s no way. Sunny joked about the resort burning down a few times before we left. Joe has to be messing with her.
“Sunny.” I put a comforting hand on her arm to slow her down. I’m sure whatever it is isn’t as bad as it sounds. “What’s going on?”
Her dark eyes flash to mine, panicked and wide. “A fire…” she trails off, blinking. She still has her phone pressed to her ear and I can hear her brother barking her name to get her attention. She’s zoning out. She looks like she’s going into shock. I pull her phone away from her and she lets me.
“Joe?” I lower Sunny to sit on the bed and she stares blankly at the wall. “Sunny is kinda freaking out. What’s going on?”
“Anders?” He spits out my name like he’s sure I personally hired an arsonist or something. “We had a fire at Nizhóní. It’s almost out now. There’s…” He curses and shouts something to someone on his end. “She needs to get home. Can you get her here?”
