His confusion was obvious. I didn’t even have to look at the way his nose had scrunched to tell. “What?”
“Well, I had meant to say good morning back, but I’d been thinking about it all morning. I guess it decided to come out.”
For a second, he didn’t say anything. I’d started to think he might be weirded out. Until he started to laugh. “Yeah, Cres. I’ll go on a date with you.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded against me, his ear rubbing along my chest. “Of course. Where at?”
Wonderful question. “I’ll tell you later, I promise. I need to go ahead and get ready for work. Sarah should be here in a little bit.”
“Ugh. I don’t want you to go to work. It’s too early.” His frown was, quite honestly, one of the cutest things I’d ever seen.
“I don’t want to either, baby. But I have to. Sarah will take you to therapy at ten, and then I’ll be home sometime after two.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pressing his face deeper into my chest. I could feel him hum, his voice vibrating into my skin. “Mmm, baby. I like that.”
I needed to get up. Fuck, I needed to get up, get ready,and go to work. But how could I do that when I had my Sunshine on me, being all cute and sleepy? “I’ll be back before you know it, Sunshine.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll let you go. But I want a kiss first.”
That I could push back time for. He leaned down, letting me press my lips to his. It was only supposed to be a quick peck, if anything, but it seemed neither of us wanted to stick to that unspoken rule. I took him gently, but with greed. There was never enough when it came to Elio. I could get lost in the small lines in his lips, dropping into the cavern of them, content to never make it out.
We pulled away, each of us with a smile on our faces. “Go get ready, honey. I’ll probably sleep a little bit longer.”
Honey.
Ah, fuck. My heart. How could I tell if I still had one? I was sure it’d have exploded by now. By the way it was pounding from his words alone, I guessed it was still there, but I couldn’t be sure anymore.
Reluctantly, I let him peel himself away from the safety of my body, throwing my legs over to get out of the bed myself. I truly didn’t want to leave him.
Getting ready was easier today than it had been. My earbuds were charging on my nightstand while I put on my work clothes, and it seemed the voices were staying tame and respectful for the moment. By the time I got to the front door, Sarah was already there, a grin on her face despite it being so early.
She pushed past the door, dropping her purse from her shoulder. “Hey, Cres. Elio still in bed?”
“Yeah, he said he might sleep a little longer. Help yourself to some breakfast for now if you’d like, though. You guys shouldn’t have to leave until around nine-thirty, so just make yourself at home until he wakes up.”
“Sounds good! I’ll make sure he gets there on time. Are his sessions weekly?”
I grabbed my keys and lunchbox, trying to get myself ready to be without Elio for nine hours of my day. “They’re twice a week for now while he adjusts.”
She plopped into the chair, sighing as she sank down. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Have a good day at work!”
Leaving the apartment felt like a crime. It felt wrong to put Elio in Sarah’s hands instead of my own. Once I got into the car, my heart felt like it was being pulled so far toward his direction that I almost let my feet carry me back.
I thoughtabout it the entire day. The way my heart pulled and tugged, yearning for his company. Every task I completed, I completed with Elio on my mind, getting lost imagining what we could do for our date. There were so many options, yet none at the same time. Our town didn’t have much to do outside of the few and far between restaurants we could go to, but I wasn’t sure if that was too boring.
My usual bench at the park was empty, waiting for me. As of five minutes ago, Elio had given me the green light that would help me do what I’ve needed to do for a while now.
I waited, paralyzed with anticipation as the phone rang in my earbuds. After an entire five seconds, Moon finally picked up.
“Well, look who decided to call his big brother.”
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed loud enough he could definitely hear it. “Yeah, I know. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”
The telltale rustle of the blankets came through my earbuds. “About why you’ve ignored us for so long?”
“I wasn’t ignoring you intentionally, Moon. My entire world has basically, like, shifted, and I need you to be serious with me for a second. And I need you to not freak out or anything about what I’m going to tell you.”
