Everything was temporary.
Feelings. Spaces. Situations. People. Cases. Pain. Pleasure.
Kason pulled my body across the dry sheets. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his breath against my neck. The white musk and vanilla that had left their traces on his skin were the perfect match.
Exhaustion plagued me. A yawn pulled my mouth apart. Tears rolled down the side of my face and onto the pillow, where they’d soon dry. The day had been long.
Muah.
Kason’s lips lulled me to a quieter place.
“I love you, Range,” he declared, barely above a whisper.
My entire frame tensed within his grasp. But as the seconds passed, I began to release the tension he’d summoned with his words. Slowly, silently, I drifted into a slumber.
Sunlight toastedmy limbs through the near-endless glass surrounding the condo. The brightness was uncompromising. Demanding. Loud. Haughty. Yellow. Warm.
I stretched my limbs until my bones murmured their grievances. The day had started without me. I was repulsed by the idea.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t have any immediate business on my schedule or that there wasn’t a true need for me to be awake at the moment; sleeping in late was never an option.
I rolled over, running my hand across the coolness that was once filled with Kason’s limbs. Somehow, someway, the emptiness was gratifying and hollowing and dreadful and peaceful. Naturally, my layers began to peel backward to reveal the truest version of myself.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
My vibrating phone alerted me to an incoming call. Without haste, I shifted my body in the opposite direction. After retrieval, I pressed the green button on my screen.
“Good morning,” groggily, I greeted one of the most precious souls our Maker had ever created. The other was only three miles down the road from her.
“Range,” she sighed, disappointment likely gripping her heartstrings and pulling as if she wasn’t suffering enough from the pain of the world.
“Yes, baby?”
It didn’t matter that she was the oldest of the girls. She was our baby.
Gentle.
Fragile.
Sensible.
Soft.
Thoughtful.
Nurturing.
“I’m calling to inform you of my cancellation for tonight’s dinner. I’ve been assigned a new task.”
There it was. Her reason why. Because there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d cancel on dinner with me willingly. Teddy had given her a new assignment. One she would complete without flaw.
“I understand. Another time, huh?”
“Yes. I apolog–”
“Hey. We’re not going there. Now, change of subject, alright.”
