His eyes traveled over my face while he drifted his knuckle along my jaw.
“You sound pretty wise for someone who says she doesn’t have it together.”
“Oh, trust me. I don’t,” I said, breathless as goose bumps puckered down my neck. I smoothed my hair away from my shoulder, grazing the raised skin to calm it down before Lee could notice.
Getting goose bumps from a man I was about to move in with couldn’t happen. It was another one of those muscle-memory reactions I’d have to find a way to control.
“Now that we have that all settled, I’m hungry.” I reached for the door handle, desperate for some distance and air since the inside of the cab seemed to have neither.
“Hey,” Lee called to me when I walked ahead.
“What? I told you I was hungry.” I crossed my arms and jerked my chin toward the diner entrance.
Lee ambled over to where my feet were rooted to the concrete.
“Come here,” he whispered, pulling me into a hug.
I felt his full-body exhale when he dropped his head to the crook of my shoulder, goose bumps now breaking out all over the place. I was over this, over him, so why was my heart trying to hammer right out of my chest?
Instead of resisting, I melted into him, resting my head on his shoulder while I allowed myself one greedy minute.
“It was always like this with us,” Lee whispered as he pulled away.
“Like what?” The fight to gasp enough air to make words was as frustrating as it was embarrassing.
“I love your brother and all, but he was never much of a talker. He was more about the silent support.”
“So you’re saying that I’m the bigmouth of the two of us?” I said with a shaky laugh.
“No.” He shook his head as his mouth curved. “All those long talks we’d have, sometimes for hours.” He dipped his head, lifting a brow. “There’s still no one I’d rather spill my guts to than you. You brought me back to life back then, and you’re kind of saving it now.”
One more inch of that crooked smile would make me melt right on the asphalt. Those long talks had beeneverything. He’d brought me back to life too, then had made me fall in love with him shortly before he’d torn my heart to shreds.
But he hadn’t known he was doing it, so how could I be mad at him?
I couldn’t and wouldn’t be taunted by an old wish that would never come true.
EIGHT
LEE
“Whatever I forgot, I’m not going to worry about it,” my sister said as I helped her load the last of the boxes in the back of their truck.
“If you need anything right away, I’ll send it. I’ll do a sweep after you leave,” I told her, still in denial she was getting into their truck and we wouldn’t see her in the morning.
Bennie stood behind us on the sidewalk with her stuffed cat in her hands. I’d never had a pet growing up since Debbie had been allergic to anything with fur, and that was my excuse for telling Bennie no every time she’d asked for a cat. I had the feeling she’d ask again, but I wasn’t going to add pet maintenance on to everything Stella was already doing for us.
“Give me a hug,” Tom, my brother-in-law, called out to Bennie while he squatted by the curb with his arms stretched out. Bennie rushed over and squeezed his neck.
“When can I visit?” Bennie asked Debbie after she lifted her up.
“Soon, I promise. Chicago is awesome. I think you’lllove it.” Debbie’s tear-filled eyes flicked to mine. I had to avert my gaze for a moment since seeing my sister cry would set me off. More than just free babysitting these past four years, my big sister had jumped in to take care of us, and I wouldn’t have survived without her.
Bennie may not have realized how much she would miss Debbie yet, but it was already killing me.
“Okay, little brother. We better get going,” Debbie said after setting Bennie down.
“It’s funny that Aunt Deb calls you little brother when you’re so big, Daddy.”
