“There is one thing I miss about home. One small, stupid, insignificant thing.”
I’m thrown back by her admission but hold myself still. I don’t want her to feel the smile creeping across my face or the delighted chuckle ready to spill from my mouth, so I remove my lips, hating the instant chill that inches over my flesh.
“What do you miss?”
“It’s dumb,” she says, hiding her smile in her blanketed shoulder.
“Well, now I’m even more excited to hear what it is.”
With a gentle nudge in my direction, she lifts her head and reveals her tender, softhearted smile. “I miss the hiding, the sneaking off at random hours of the night, risking my ass, in hopes that you were already waiting for me… you always were.”
I don’t hide my smile from her this time. Gripping her by the jaw, I slam my beaming grin over her lips and say, “I live with you, angel. There’s not a need to sneak away anymore.”
“I know. Trust me, I know, and I love that, I really do, but,” she pauses, breaking our kiss to spin her body around on the step until we’re eye to eye, “there was something about you, Roman Marcello, sneaking off in the middle of the night to meet me in the woods… I was nothing, but you made me feel like the only girl in the world.”
How can she still not understand?
Cupping her face in my hands, I pull her toward me, brushing the tips of our noses against each other. “You have always been the only girl in my world, angel.”
“That… was really cheesy. Sweet, but cheesy.” Amira holds in her laughter as long as possible until it comes out in spurts between her lips.
Yes, it fucking was, but it made her laugh, so I don’t give a shit.
“But I hear what you’re saying. If you want, I can lay under the bush outside our window and throw stones at the glass, make it feel like old times.”
Smacking me on the chest, Amira uses my shoulder to push herself up onto her feet. Hand outstretched, she says, “You chipped my window doing that, but yeah, I want that.”
I watch her walk through the front door, shoulders high and pulled back, like the weight that was breaking our bones has been lifted.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
AMIRA
Saturday
March 20, 2021
The sunlight streaming through the curtains alerts me to how late in the day it is. Roman and I didn’t end up in bed until somewhere around three in the morning.
We stayed awake until the sky started to bleed light, talking and reminiscing about good times. Sharing happy moments instead of the sad, for the first time in too long, with my body wrapped in his, our smiles keeping each other smiling.
I don’t remember falling asleep on the carpeted floor, but I do recall being cradled in Roman’s secure arms, my head against his chest as he took me to bed, laying me on the cool sheets before tucking me under the warmth of the comforter.
I remember feeling his fingers gently graze the bridge of my nose before coming down to rest on the slit of my lips. His breath, smelling of cheap beer and tequila, blowing into my nostrils as he bent down to kiss me goodnight.
I fell fully asleep with the remnants of my happiness gracing my lips, and I woke just the same when I heard the sound of pebbles crashing against the window.
I laid in bed for a handful of minutes, listening to the sharp pitter-patter of the rocks against the glass while hiding a smile behind my shaking palm.
I couldn’t believe Roman actually did it.
There he was, lying on his back under the overgrown bush, flicking rocks to wake me up. And just like before, I pushed the window open and snuck him inside.
We crashed to the floor together, our stomachs twisted in pain from laughing uncontrollably, but we didn’t care. We traveled back to one of our best memories, and we lived in a state of bliss until our eyes fell shut again.
The clock reads two in the afternoon, and the clawing of Shadow’s paw on the comforter is a warning that if I don’t get my ass out of bed now, she’ll do her business on the floor.
“Come on, girl,” I whisper, sliding out of bed to rush to the door.
