“Leo,” I begged in a whisper.
“See what I mean?” he repeated, sounding desperate this time. “Lost.”
I nodded, numbly. “It’s not a bad thing.”
Leo didn’t respond. Instead, he kissed me again. This time, he was more determined. He wanted me to feel his fear, and I did. Losing things to someone scared me too. Except, I’d been letting him take for years. Leo didn’t know how many pieces of me he carried. Small parts of me only he knew.
“This was supposed to be a simple conversation,” he whispered against my lips. His breath was as heavy and hot as mine.
“This is better though, right?” I teased, drawing him close so our noses brushed.
He gave me a wide smile. I grinned back. The excitement instantly fell away when there was a knock on the door. I nearly jumped at the vibration. Leo held me still and placed a finger to his lips. He waited until I nodded before moving towards the back part of the door.
“Kira,” Nate called. “You there?”
I tucked my hair behind my ears with hopes it’d look semi-presentable. But I was almost one hundred percent sure my curls looked like I’d either been rolling around in a bush or grinding against my brother’s best friend.
My fingers wiped at the corners of my mouth. “One second.”
“Relax,” Leo mouthed, looking impressively calm. “It’s fine.”
I nodded, trying to take a deep breath. Leo reached over to pull down the part of my shorts he’d shoved up. I waited until he was done and safely out of sight before opening the door.
“What is it?” I asked my brother.
Nate leaned against the door frame, eyes taking in the room behind me like he knew something was up. “Lily and Grace want to go back home.”
“Oh, of course.” I nodded and reached a shaky hand for my jacket hung on a hook by the door.
“You good?” Nate sounded genuinely concerned. “The argument wasn’t that bad.”
I blinked, at first confused by what he was referencing. “You and Mom. I… you know I just don’t like conflict.”
“I know.” He rubbed his earlobe, looking a little regretful. “I’m sorry I started it.”
Guilt filtered across my chest at hearing his apology.
“It’s just sometimes I can’t help but rock the boat,” he continued. “Makes me feel better after all the bullshit, you know?”
“I know.” My shoulders sagged at the lingering frustration in my brother’s tone. All the arguing in the world wouldn’t help him settle his disagreement with our parents.
“You know what? I’ll walk them back,” he offered. “I need to get out of this house. Maybe I’ll go see a movie after or something.”
“That sounds good.” I smiled a little, happy to hear he was taking space. Plus, with him gone, Leo would be able to slip out soon after without raising alarms. No need to have two arguments in one night.
“You want to come to the movies once I get back? I think that new thriller is out.”
The guilt was back with a vengeance as I shook my head. “I’m going to turn in for the night. Been a long day.”
“Alright. No worries.” There was minor disappointment in his tone. “Next time?”
“It’ll be on me,” I promised when he started back toward the stairs.
He pointed at me before heading down and said, “I’m holding you to that.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Wouldn’t expect any less from you.”
Once the door shut, Leo returned in front of me. Our position was the same as before, me against the door and him a breath away from me. Except this time, he didn’t move to touch me. Nate’s presence had brought us back to reality.
“I’ll give it a minute,” he whispered. “And head out.”
I chewed on my cheek and nodded. The air in between us felt stiff and awkward. A far cry from what we’d been doing before we were interrupted.
“Do you…” I started and cleared my throat before adding, “Want to run tomorrow morning? We should get you back on track with your dry land exercising.”
When he hesitated for a moment, I thought his answer was going to be no. I thought the wall was back.
“Meet me at the boardwalk?” he asked.
My stomach fluttered after seeing the hope in his eyes. “Yes.”
