For a beat, the air shifts—an awkward tension filling the air—until Ty pulls me back into his arms like it’s the most natural thing in the world and I yawn, involuntarily.
Today… Today was a lot.
“You can rest now,” he murmurs against my hair. “I’ll watch over you. You don’t have to worry or stay on guard. Let me take over, for a little while.”
I’m silent for a moment, breathing in the safety and the stillness around us. The scent of dirt, leaves, and something perfectly Ty, lulling me to sleep. But before I can fall too deeply, I ask him, “What did you call me?”
Ty’s soft chuckle fills the air between us. “Cariñomeans a few different things in Spanish. Honey, sweetheart, darling. It’s a term of endearment, but also…” He lets the sentence fade and I almost worry he’s not going to tell me. Just as I take a breath to ask him, he whispers, “it can signify great adoration, deep feelings, fondness.” And I can hear the meaning behind his words.
Great care and maybe even love?
“Thank you,” I whisper back. “That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”
“Anything for you,cariño.Now, rest, I’m right here. You’re safe, I swear it,” he murmurs in my ear so softly, the rumbling of his voice lulling me to a peaceful sleep, it doesn’t even matter where we are. His arms around me, his heartbeat in my ear, it’s heaven.
I realize then that I believe him, and my head falls against his shoulder as I drift off to sleep with his soft voice whispering things in a tongue I can’t understand, but cause me to give into the oblivion.
CHAPTER 6
She’s leaving.
This firecracker of a girl who came into my life, blew everything up, and is now leaving.
Her soft snores fill my ears, accompanying the sounds of the crickets and the odd car passing by where we’re hidden away.
Fuck, her head is falling. It slowly slides off my shoulder and then she’s going to wake up with the fall.
I don’t want that to happen. Roxie seems like she doesn’t sleep easily, and she basically fell asleep the moment I told her that I’d watch over her.
No, I’m not letting her wake up like that. Falling? No, that’s one of the worst ways to wake up.
“I’m just going to move you so you can lay down,” I murmur softly, shifting over, and holding her head as I slowly moveit downward. With her head positioned on my lap and her shoulder tucked under my thigh so that she’s comfortable.
“Gorgeous,” I whisper, brushing a black lock of hair out of her face.
I’m not tired, even though I know I should be. I don’t want to miss this.
Thankfully the clearing has enough light that I’m able to see pretty clearly, because I notice the edge of her sketchbook peeking out of her bag of treasure. Using my foot to grab the bag, I hook it around my toes and pull it closer so I can grab her book.
Got it, I think victoriously as I feel the rough fabric of the cover under my hands. If I don’t get to be with her after this… I need a picture. I need something. I know I’ll never forget her, but I want a picture of her. Just like this so my memory doesn’t fail me.
Her pencil slips out from the drawing she was working on, and I open the page to seeme.Roxie’s so freaking talented. It’s a rough sketch, but I can clearly see that it’s me. My too-long messy black hair, my dark eyes that don’t give much away but she’s somehow managed to capture a moment where I’m smirking, my lips quirking up on one side…
I can’t believe this is how she sees me.
Slowly, I turn the page to the next blank one and get started on my own masterpiece.
Hours go by, or it could be moments, I don’t know. I’m so focused on getting this perfect. I want a picture, a moment, a memory, to give her. To give us.
I finished the portrait of her I made of her sleeping on me. She looks like an angel wrapped in black, sass, and anger, but she’s complicated, scarred,gentleeven on the inside. The moment I finished that one, I started one of us together. I hope I’ll have time to make two. One for each of us.
How she told me she thought I’d get bored of her…That won’t leave my mind.
Who the hell told this gem of a girl that she’s not worth being remembered? Being missed? I want to make them hurt.
Badly.
I shift the paper a little to see better, the moonlight isn’t the best light to work with, but it’s what I have. I draw us like this. Exactly how we are right now, but instead of me drawing her, I rest with her.
