“Not today.” I closed the box up again and hurried toward him.
He flipped off the light as I stepped outside. Of course, right at that moment, Dad came around the corner.
“Careful.” His right eyebrow shot up as he looked past me at Alex. “Setting up another bed, I see?” He turned to me. “Did you find a room to stay in?”
I straightened my back. “Alex was kind enough to let me stay with him.”
“Is that so?” He turned to Alex. “You don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Not at all. It’s the best solution for everyone.”
“It isasolution,” Dad said, his cryptic reply letting an awkward silence settle between us. No one said anything until he turned away. “Anyway, Laura and I are going to bed. See you two at breakfast.”
He gave each of us another probing glance and then retreated into the master bedroom. The thud of the closing door left me frozen for a moment. My throat tightened.If only Dad and I could go back to that moment I’d just seen in the picture and start over. Maybe things would be easier now.I held on to that thought for another second before shaking it off.
“Let’s set this up before everyone goes to sleep,” I said. “If I remember correctly, the compressor’s pretty loud.”
Alex insistedthat I go to the bathroom while he set up the bed. We had one of those back-and-forth discussions where we wentin circles about who didn’t want to be a bother and how it wasn’t a big deal. Ultimately, though, Alex won.
Even in the shower, I could hear the compressor pumping air into the mattress all the way downstairs.
When I came back, freshened up for the night, the house had gone quiet. Only a few clicks echoed through the room as Alex sat at his laptop, already working on our song again.
The mattress was pushed right up against his bed. It was only half as high, but the neatly arranged pillow and blanket made it look inviting enough.
The moment he saw me, Alex jumped up and hurried past me, giving me a quick smile. He grabbed some clothes from the dresser and headed for the downstairs bathroom, too.
While he was gone, I peeled off my shirt and pants until I was down to my underwear and slipped under the blanket.
It was funny to me how things sometimes turned out. I was in my own room and still sleeping in the guest bed.
I lay there, losing myself in thoughts about everything that had happened over the last few hours, until the door softly opened. Alex stepped back inside, now wearing red shorts and a white tank top.
“Is the mattress comfy?” he asked as he locked the door. “Anything else you need?”
“All good.” I tucked the blanket under my arms, folding my hands on my chest. “Thanks.”
He crouched in front of his laptop, clicked around a few more times, and then closed it. Turning his back to me, he took off his shirt and tossed it onto the dresser before climbing into the bed next to me and switching off the light on his nightstand. A few streaks from the fairy lights in the cherry tree outside fell onto the ceiling, painting little dots on it that looked like stars.
Alex shifted around a bit, trying to get his blanket right, but eventually the silence settled in. A pair of feet shuffled down the hallway, but they too faded with the soft thud of a closing door.
We both stared at the ceiling. Even though I had gotten ready for the night, I wasn’t tired at all, despite getting up early and spending five hours on a plane. Not to mention that it felt like this morning had already happened weeks ago.
“This feels like summer camp,” I whispered.
“Does it?” he whispered back. “I’ve never been to one.”
“Yeah, totally. Although for the real thing, we’d need six more boys in the room.”
I turned onto my side, facing him as he lay there fifteen inches higher than me. He did the same thing, looking down at me. He flattened his pillow and held it in place with his palm, resting his temple on the back of his hand.
“How is it down there?” he asked.
“I can’t complain. The view’s nice.”
Alex bit his tongue, trying to hold back a chuckle, but it eventually broke through. “You’re silly. But I guess that’s in line with the summer camp vibe?” He blinked down at me. “The view from up here is even better.”
My gaze drifted to his lips. “Hard to believe.”
