“I don’t want to disappear into sleep again,” she said.“Not yet.”
“Okay,” I said.“Living room?”
She nodded.
We moved back to the couch and settled in with a comfortable distance between us.The television glowed softly with the Golden Girls playing.
“I swear this show is always on,” she sighed.
I had seen every episode before, but they were still entertaining.
Her head tipped back against the cushion.
Minutes passed.
Then her shoulder brushed mine.
I stayed still.
A moment later, her head rested against my shoulder, warm and light.
Her breathing slowed.
She was asleep.
Again.
I waited a few beats, just to be sure, then slid my arm around her back and lifted her carefully.
She stirred but didn’t wake as I carried her down the hallway.
I laid her in bed, pulled the blanket up, and brushed her hair back gently.
“Don’t go,” she whispered.
“I’ll just be down the hallway, babe,” I promised.
She reached out and laced her fingers through mine.“Just stay for a minute,” she pleaded.She tugged me to her, and I didn’t fight it.
She wasn’t asking for more than me to just stay with her.
I could easily do that.
I laid on the bed next to her, and she tucked herself into me.“Thank you,” she whispered.
She didn’t need to thank me for a damn thing.Especially not this.
“Just sleep, Star.”I would just lay with her until she fell back to sleep, and then I would head back out to the couch.
Just a couple of minutes…
Chapter Eleven
Star
I woke up warm.
Not just physically, though that was part of it, but wrapped in something solid.For a split second, I didn’t move.I just lay there, breathing slow.
