“Seriously?”
“Yup, six weeks. Fucker won’t stop talking about it.”
Once I’m done moving, I allow him to get comfortable again.
A light laugh escapes me. “That’s amazing.”
“And I’m pretty sure Taylor and Britt fucked in the bed upstairs that night.”
That gets a full-blown cackle out of me.
He chuckles, and I feel the vibration against my thigh. It pulls my eyes to him—and that’s when I realize my hand is still on his head.
When I pull away, he makes a small, displeased sound.
“Good for them…” I murmur before testing the waters.
I let my fingers drift across his temple and into his hair. His thick eyebrows soften, and he exhales a pleased sigh. Suddenly, a memory sparks.
One night, back in his junior year, I saw him lying in bed with his mom sitting at the edge. His head was in her lap. I’m not going to sing to him like she did, but I remember how soothing it was—her native language wrapping around the room as she brushed through his hair with her nails until he fell asleep.
He once told Alysa and me about his chronic migraines, and how they’d incapacitated him. The headaches even forced him out of a few games. His mom said that back in middle school, they ran CT scans, MRIs, all sorts of tests—nothing ever came up.
Either he’s grown accustomed to them, since he was able to drive home, or maybe they’ve just lightened over the years.
I sink further into the cushion and keep combing through his hair as best I can. It isn’t easy, with how thick and textured it is, but I focus near the scalp—right where he seems to like it most.
He practically groans with every pass of my fingers. The sound would be delicious if I weren’t so caught up in the relief of seeing him so relaxed.
“Next week,” I whisper. “Can we go see your mom and my dad?”
He nods, peeking up at me briefly before closing his eyes again. “Anything you want.”
Yeah. I’m screwed.
“Thanks. Same goes for you.”
His lips curve into the faintest smile, but he doesn’t say anything else.
Soon, he’s asleep, leaving me with the low hum of the TV, Clover purring softly in her bed in the corner, and soon, the gentle patter of rain against the cabin.
My heart wants him—and knowing it can’t have him hurts so fucking much.
28
Today sucked.
Yesterday sucked too.
It’s like some curse has settled over this town, and now all the bad shit is happening at once. We haven’t even had the first snowfall yet—which is strange, considering it’s already the first week of October—and somehow we’ve hit the loony season early.
They say crazy things happen during the month of Halloween, but this is getting ridiculous.
Car fire.
Chimney fire.
Some idiot hit a power line and knocked out all electricity downtown. Thankfully, Sapphire Valley wasn’t affected. I checked in on Ayden right away to make sure.
