“Can’t sleep,” I agreed. “Doesn’t mean you have to stay up with me. I’m a big boy, I can handle insomnia all by myself.”
“Sucks a lot less if there’s someone to handle it with you,” Morgan said.
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
Morgan nodded as I prodded at the embers some more, tossing a few sticks onto them, hoping they’d catch. The fire pit was safe enough that we could leave it banked like this, ready to come back of a morning, and I was hoping that watching the flames might hypnotize me into sleeping.
“Might be,” Morgan said. “You sound likeyou’respeaking from experience, too.”
“Might be,” I allowed, smiling wryly.
“Wanna talk about it?” Morgan asked.
There he was, being impossibly sweet again. Even after everything.
“No.” I sighed. Idid, in a way, want to talk about it, but I couldn’t articulate whatitwas all that well.
“Ankle still hurt?”
I shook my head. There’d been a twinge when I got up to leave the cabin, but otherwise I felt pretty recovered. Lucky it hadn’t been worse, or…
Or that would’ve been it for this competition, wouldn’t it?
It was a good thing that I hadn’t hurt myself any worse than I actually had.
Definitely a good thing. Totally.
“Well, good,” Morgan said. “But we can tell people it does, if you want.”
I swallowed.
Since when was Morgan a mind reader?
“I’ll keep the option in mind,” I said.
“Big things are scary,” Morgan continued, completely changing the subject. “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do ‘em.”
“Doesn’t mean you necessarilyshould, either.”
“True,” Morgan agreed.
I didn’t like the way this conversation was going, but Ididlike having Morgan’s comforting warmth next to me.
“Wanna play a game?” I asked, for lack of better ideas about keeping Morganhere,but away from topics I wasn’t ready to face just yet.
“What kinda game?” Morgan asked, and I wasn’t sure if he sounded wary or tired.
I chose to believe it was tired, and I was half-hoping I’d fall asleep against him and he’d carry me back to bed.
But before that happened, I just wanted to hear his voice.
The one thing Iwassure about right now, the one thing that hadn’t changed for me and wasn’t in question was that I liked being around Morgan. He was safe and warm and so kind, and if anything I was evenmoresure about him than I had been when we got here.
“Two truths and a lie?” I suggested.
It was one step away from suggestingtruth or dare, and felt a hundred times more dignified and grown up, even if it was the kind of thing people played as an introduction game at work-related seminars.
“I’m guessing the title tells me how to play?” Morgan asked.
