“I thought maybe that’s why you wanted to stop here. Scared the hell out of me.”
Folk was quiet for a beat. Then he squeezed my hand. “I don’t want that. I’d never jump again if you asked me not to.”
“I wouldn’t do that. I love this version of you. I’d never ask you to be someone different.”
“You love me, Seth?”
I turned my head to kiss his temple. “More than you know.”
31
FOLK
I woke up in Decoy’s bed. The pillow smelled of him, and for the first time in however long, daylight didn’t hurt my eyes.
Didn’t stop me keeping them shut a few seconds longer, though, taking stock of my surroundings. Of myself. And the conclusion wasn’t half bad. My bones ached something rotten, but I didn’t feel like I was sinking anymore.
I opened my eyes. Decoy’s bedroom ceiling greeted me, along with a tiny, excited gasp.
Ivy.
Her name echoed in my head as my gaze fell on her, sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, a circle of cushions set around her like a fort, her wide gaze fixed on me. “Folksie,” she whispered. “You’re awake.”
I sat up on my elbows. “I think you might be right, but I dream about mermaids all the time, so maybe I’m still asleep.”
Ivy giggled.
I held my hand out to her and she began to crawl. Then she stopped. “I can’t hug you. Daddy said I had to stayright herewhile he’s in the shower.”
“Right there?”
Ivy nodded gravely. “I’m not allowed to stare in your face to see if your eyeballs move, or poke Locke while he’s asleep on the couch.”
“Locke’s asleep on the couch? He’s ten foot tall.”
“His legs are dangling off the end. And he has a coat on his head.”
Sounded like Locke. Dude could sleep anywhere as long as no one startled him awake.
The shower shut off. That I hadn’t registered it running clued me in to the fact that I was still messy.
Footsteps on the landing.
Then Decoy appeared in a vision of wet skin and kind eyes, and it didn’t seem to matter that I already needed to go back to sleep.
“Hey.” He opened a drawer and tugged out clean clothes without looking at them. “You’re awake.”
“I am.” I prepared myself for a repeat conversation, but Ivy interrupted.
“Daddy, can I move now?”
Decoy tore his gaze from me. “All right, but don’t—”
Too late.
Ivy bounced across the bed and into my arms.
Couldn’t lie, the impact of her tiny body made mine feel like it was falling apart, but her sweet joy was so worth it, even as a wave of belated confusion hit me. “What day is it? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
