“Something like that.”
Her eyes softened. “Youokay?”
“Are you?”
She opened her mouth, probably to deny it, then snapped it shut.Auroraturned to face the ocean and crossed her arms, breathing in the morning air. “No,” she admitted. “I’mnot.”
Instead of sitting down beside her,Isat behind her and wrapped my arms around her.
Aurora didn’t hesitate.Sheleaned back into me and closed her eyes. “Tellme about your night.”
I didn’t want to.Ididn’t want to put that burden on her.Somepeople could handle the harsh reality of what first responders saw, but others couldn’t.Aurorahad her own shit going on at the moment.Ididn’t want to put that weight on her.
“Just busy,”Isaid asIrested my chin on top of her head.Somethingabout her closeness turned the incomparable exhaustion into gentle tiredness.
Aurora hummed under her breath. “Doyou know anything about the kind of booksIused to write?”
I hated her talking about it in the past tense, butIwasn’t about to argue with her. “No,”Iadmitted. “Ithought aboutGooglingyou, butIdidn’t want to piss you off.”
She laughed softly. “Iused to write romances that centered around organized crime.Thedark stuff.Itgot pretty gory and horrific sometimes.Ido a lot of research soI’mup to speed on what gunshot wounds look like.Howlong people can stay alive while being tortured.Iimmersed myself in it.I’veprobably given theFBIandNSAquite a few heart attacks with my internet search history.I’mused to being in that kind of headspace for months at a time.”
“What’s your point?”Imurmured into her hair.Shesmelled like fresh air and sea breeze.
Aurora turned in my arms and lay her palms on my bare, shower-speckled chest. “I’mnot sayingIunderstand what it’s like to see dark stuff first hand.AndI’mnot glorifying it or sensationalizing it.Ican’t imagine what it feels like to have to actually walk into moments like that.I’mjust saying, if you need to talk about it, whatever happened won’t faze me.”
“I just need to sleep this one off,”Iadmitted as my heart thumped against her palm. “Butyou can tell me why you were sleeping on the beach.”
She rested her head on my chest, her light breaths dancing across my skin. “I—um—Itold my friendsIwas done writing.They’reauthors too.It’salways been the three of us.TheyknewIhad writer’s block, butInever told them how bad it was until last night.Ijust . . .Icame to terms with losing my career and my identity and my successes.Inever stopped to realizeIwould lose them too.”
My gut twisted as anger flared through me. “Ifthey cut you out because you admitted you were hurting, they’re shit friends.”
“No,”Aurorasaid with a shake of her head. “Theydidn’t.Ijust told them what was going on and thatIwas done, and thenIgot off the call.Theyhave deadlines.Idon’t want to be responsible for them splitting their time and attention between their books and my early mid-life crisis.”
“Real friends will drop whatever they have going on to be there for you,”Isaid.
A small smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Andyet you won’t tell me what’s got you in a funk.”
I laughed asItightened my arms aroundAurora, holding her close. “Didyou just admit we’re friends?”
Aurora didn’t flinch.Shedidn’t smile.Shedidn’t roll her eyes.Shedidn’t swat me away.Shestayed exactly as she was, letting me hold her. “Yeah.Ithink you’re the only friendIhave right now.”
Sleep crept in like an ink blot, slowly staining everything as it spread.Theworld started to swirl around me as my eyes grew heavy.Iwanted to carry her inside, crawl into bed, and hide away from the world together.
“You alright, hotshot?” she asked softly.
“Tired,”Isaid asIclosed my eyes and tilted my head to rest my cheek on top of her head. “Wannanap with me?”
“I slept all night.”Sheyawned. “Outside, but it was sleep nonetheless.Ineed to use the daylight to tackle the overgrown jungle of a backyard and boardwalk thatIown soIdon’t have to trespass on yours.”
“You can trespass anytime.Justpromise me you’ll be safe.”
Aurora peeled away and tried to smooth down her wind-swept waves. “Ican promise you that.Ican’t promise you a lack of swear-screaming if the weeds don’t cooperate.”
I chuckled, trying to hide my disappointment. “I’llcome over to help later.”
But she just shook her head before turning to walk back to her place. “Sleepit off.”
* * *
