Letty
How’s the sex?
I nearly choke on my tongue, tripping over my own feet as I wave my thanks to the older gentleman holding the door for me.Why must they be like this?
Great. Gotta go.
I mute their notifications and shove my phone in my bag, waiting in line to check in and begrudgingly wishing they were here to keep my mind busy.
CHAPTER
THIRTY
The pipes roarto life as Adhira turns on her shower, and I melt into the sofa, relieved that she’s still able to care for herself. I really bloody wanted to accompany her today, not out of guilt or a deep-seated need to provide, but because I enjoy spending time with her. Andthatis new for me. So new, in fact, that I have no idea what to do with the information.
But seeing her complete small tasks that Mum wasn’t able to by this point in her cancer journey is revitalising in a way it shouldn’t be. Not with how relentlessly friend-zoned I seem to be, but if that’s what she needs from me, that’s what I’ll be. And being given the honour of earning Adhira’s trust is more than enough for me. For now.
My phone chimes in my pocket, and my neck and shoulders tense as I answer. Each night when I speak with my sisters, I’ve been waiting for the one where Mum tells me her biopsy results.
And it appears tonight is that night.
Mum's bright, smiling face fills the screen, and I mirror her expression. “What are we so cheery about tonight, Mum?”
“My biopsy is benign, love! We’ll keep a watch on it, but otherwise, I’m free to continue as I have been,” she says, and my heart is like a bird breaking free from its too-small cage.
“That’s wonderful, Mum!” I shout across the line, my muscles dissolving into liquid after a week of built-up tension. The sound of the water shutting off acts as a quick reminder that tomorrow could either be Adhira’s final treatment or the final step before she faces an even more grim reality, and fear grips my heart at the thought.
She can’t leave me.
“I do have some bad news though,” Mum adds, but her smile never falters. “The girls spent their day off with the equestrian teacher down the road, and they’re knocked out for the night.”
“When they wake you in the middle of the night, send them my love,” I joke, glad to have the extra time tonight to decompress and spend some more time alone with Adhira.
We chat for a while longer, and by the time we’re off the line, Adhira is stepping into the living room, dressed in another one of my jumpers, and my dick stirs in my shorts at the sight.
“Did I miss the girls?” she asks, her brows pinched.
I can’t form words, a thrill of joy and adrenaline thrumming through me at the sight of her.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
I jump up, wrapping my arms around her slim waist and twirling her. “Mum’s biopsy came back benign!” My heart stops beating, but before I can apologise or set her down, she winds her arms around my neck and laughs with me.
“Quit spinning me before I puke,” she says, her voice brimming with laughter. I settle her onto the sofa and sit beside her. She’s wearing a smile so brilliant I wish I could take apicture and save it for later when she leaves me,for one reason or another.
“We should celebrate,” she announces, smacking her hands on her thighs and pushing herself off the sofa.
“You have chemo in the morning; we really don’t have?—”
She marches to the front door, tugging her trainers on and fixing me with a glare. “Don’t tell me what’s best for me, and I’ll return the favour. Now, get up. I want ice cream, and mylasttreatment is even more reason to celebrate.”
“Well, who am I to argue with that?”
It takes us twenty minutes to find the shop she likes, with the cardamom-and-rose ice cream, but only half as long for her to devour every bite as we walk along the bustling street, window-shopping as we go.
Adhira’s hair is hanging down her back, mostly dry, and I have the urge to play with it, just as she did with mine the other night. She wipes her mouth with her napkin, popping it in a rubbish bin, and turns to face me, hands on her hips.
“There’s a bookstore just down this way,” she says, using her chin to point. “It’s not the one I wanted to take you to today, but it’ll do.”
