“How was your afternoon? Did you finish studying for your last final?” I asked. Her head was on my chest, her arm draped across my body, one of my favorite positions for her to be in.
“I did…”
But her answer left me with more questions. She was keeping something from me, it was obvious. When I tried to sit us up, she pushed me down, keeping us as we were. She remained quiet for a few more minutes, her fingers finding my skin under my shirt, rubbing some random design.
Then she cleared her throat.
“I went to legal services on campus today.”
I stopped breathing. Every muscle in my body froze. My fear was if I moved or breathed, she wouldn’t continue talking.Eventually, she balanced her chin on her hand, looking up at me. The sadness in her eyes combined with a fortitude I hadn’t seen before.
“It was time.”
Nodding in agreement, I remained quiet, hoping that was what she needed.
“They told me about the process, and that it would be a long one. But they assured me they would help me with everything, even contacting the police.”
That was when the first tear fell from her eye. My hand instinctively wiped it away. My heart broke for her all over again. It was going to be hard to go through this.
“Baby, I’ll be here for you, through it all, I promise. Every step of the way.”
She dropped her head against my chest again, nodding once as she did. I only hoped she understood she wasn’t alone and wouldn’t be. My arms wrapped her tight as we nestled against each other, the breeze from the open window flowing against our skin.
“Do you have anything you have to do right now?” I asked her.
The slight shake of her head against my body encouraged me to pull her closer. I pulled a light blanket over us, hoping she got my point. And she did. I felt her relax even more against me, and sleep took us over within minutes.
The voice was muddled,as if underwater. It felt as though I was having another dream, but it felt real at the same time.
“Hey guys…”
Then I felt the nudge against my shoulder, and my eyes slowly opened. It was Macie’e light eyes staring down at me.
“Hey,” she said again. “I didn’t want you both to sleep through dinner. We’re ordering food in and wanted to see if you guys wanted anything.”
She whispered since Ava was still asleep against my side.
“Sure, thanks, Macie.” I rubbed at my face to wipe the sleepiness away. “Give me a sec, OK?”
She nodded and left us, closing the door. I looked down at the serene beauty still sound asleep against my shoulder, and my heart swelled. Each day I’d spent with her these past couple months, whether it was in secret or finally out in the open, had been a gift. My thumb rubbed against her parted lips, gently pulling on her full bottom one. She stirred against me, a sleepy moan seeping from those lips.
“Hey baby,” I said quietly near her ear. “You getting hungry?”
The mention of food got her waking up. Her eyes popped open, those bright green orbs now staring at me. Her lips curved up as she became more aware of where she was.
“What are you smiling at?”
“I could get used to this,” she said. “Sleeping with you is like sleeping with a built-in electric blanket. Plus a true, life-sized body pillow. But you’re harder than a pillow.”
She poked my pecs and biceps as she sat up. Then, those pokes changed to her rubbing along my chest.
“Don’t get me wrong, I like the hardness.” The playful tone in her voice started getting something else hard.
“You’re distracting me,” I told her. “Food. We’re supposed to be figuring out what we want to eat. Text Macie and ask her where they’re ordering from.”
She reached for her phone and got to work on that while I peeled myself from her to use the bathroom. As I did, it made mewonder if we would share a room once it was just the two of us this summer.
“I assume you want the double cheeseburger, no onion, and fries?” she asked as I returned to the bed.
