“You’re warm,” he murmured, the words tickling the sensitive skin at the back of my neck. He raised his head, nudging my hair, and inhaled. “Your hair smells nice,” he said.
“I use shampoo,” I told him.
He laughed. “What kind?”
“Are you going to copy me?”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t,” I told him. “I like how you smell.”
He remained there, a heavy but warm presence at my back, as I finished washing everything and placed it on a spare bit of bench to dry.
“What time is it?” I asked.
He hummed in an I’m-thinking way as he looked out the window. “Almost seven?”
“Should we head off to this party, then?”
“We still have time. Knowing my friends, they’ll all be late.”
“Alright. Do you want to play Minecraft then? We still have our house to work on.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” He didn’t move.
“Leo,” I said. “You’re trapping me here.”
He squeezed me once, pulling me close to him. “You’re so cute,” he said, before letting go and hurrying over to the TV. Hequickly set up the Xbox, then patted the spot beside him, and I sat down wearing a big stupid grin.
I was building a library, and Leo was creating a staircase when his phone started to ring. I assumed it would be his friends, but he took one glance at the screen before setting it down.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“My dad.” He was frowning.
“Is everything okay?” I asked hesitantly.
He glanced at me and pulled a smile, but it faded quickly. “Yeah. I’m not ignoring him on purpose. I mean, I am, but I know it’s nothing important. He already called earlier today to complain about the latest thing my Mum did. They’re divorced,” he explained.
“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “It happened a long time ago. I’m over it.”
“But…are things okay now?”
He held my gaze for a long time before forcibly relaxing his shoulders. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m being a downer.”
“No!” I insisted. “We don’t have to talk about it, but if you want to, I’ll listen.” I reached out for his hand to punctuate my point.
He looked down at our touching hands, then sighed, his chest raising with the movement. “It’s not a big deal. I’m just not very close with them. They’ve always had a lot going on — they both worked a lot when I was a kid and when they got divorced, it was a long process with a lot of drama and fights, so that took up even more of their time.”
“That sucks.”
He gave me an odd look. “It’s okay. You said yourself your parents aren’t that affectionate either.”
“Yeah,” I began, “but…”
It felt different, somehow. Then again, I couldn’t make assumptions about Leo’s family based on a few pieces of information he chose to share with me.
