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Thea
I’m not entirely sure when sleep came, but as I blink awake, I can tell that I hardly moved an inch. My entire body hurts from lying in the same position for so long. My neck is stiff as a board.
I peel myself off of Jesse’s hard body, noting the near-perfect imprint of my ear on his skin. His arms are still locked around the bars of my bed frame.
“Jesse,” I whisper, wanting his attention but not wanting to startle him. It only partially works, because he jolts awake, flinching when he tries to pull his arms back. “It’s morning, we haven’t moved all night.” I relay my obvious findings.
“My arms… I don’t think there’s any blood left.” He shakes his limbs, trying to regain some circulation. This silly bit of distress makes me laugh, so less severe than our problems from last night.
“I need to get ready for work,’’ I mumble, but don’t move. The last thing I want to do is go to work right now. I can only imagine how puffy my face looks from crying last night.
“Can you take another day off?” He asks, reading my mind.
“Technically, yes. I have plenty of time to use but hate calling off at the last minute.”
“I’m sure Latisha would understand, but do what you think is best. I’d rather stay in bed with you all day, but I can manage hanging out at the library if you want.” He closes his eyes and leans back into the pillows as if that were a completely normal statement.
“Why would you be hanging out at the library?” He doesn’t even open his eyes at my question.
“I’m not leaving your side today. Not even out of my sight.”
“That’s probably not necessary.” Though I can’t lie… I’m not looking forward to being out of his sight either.
“I’m not changing my mind. You’re way too important to me to leave it up to chance. I thought I might lose you last night, Thea. I never want to feel that way again.” He squeezes his eyes shut tighter, frowning slightly as if to stop replaying what happened yesterday in his head.
“Do you know where my phone is?” My decision to call off has been made. Life is too short and unpredictable to spend the day pretending we’re okay. Last night affected us both in different ways but solidified the fact that we’re both terrified to lose each other.
“Somewhere on the bed, I think.” He watches me closely as I climb off and search through the blankets until I find it.
As I make my call his shoulders relax, especially when he hears Latisha through the phone insisting that I stay home. Once I told her what happened, her voice raised a few octaves with concern. I had to tell her over and over that I was fine before she accepted it.
“Is he there? Cutie from the library?” She asks, whispering into the phone finally.
“Yes. He’s here.” I blush, glancing at where Jesse is sitting on my bed.
“Wooo goood!” She yells, making me pull the phone farther from my ear.
“Okay, he can hear you. Goodbye Latisha, love you.” I attempt to end the call before she can embarrass me.
“Love you too sweetie! AND, YOU TOO CUTIE!” She yells again, making me and Jesse both laugh. Latisha’s silliness helps lighten both of our moods.
I sit my phone down and crawl back into bed. “I won’t have to be back in until Tuesday.”
“What about the bar?” He asks, making me cringe. Ugh, the bar.
“I’ll call Sunny later, tell him that I’m done.” I decide at that moment.
“Are you sure? I’d be there no matter what. Fuck anything else, I’ll sit there and make sure you’re safe the whole time if you want to keep working there,” he tells me earnestly.
There’s no guilt-mongering or manipulation in his voice. He’s being honest. He would sit there every night for hours if I was determined to keep working.
“After last night, I’m ready to be done. I don’t want either of us to be worried about a job that I don’t even like. I’ll burn the uniform.” I laugh, realizing how happy I am to never parade around in it again.
“Keep it.” There’s a twinkle in his eye that I’ve missed since everything happened last night. His worry is finally dissipating enough to regain some of his normal charm. “You can wear it for me.”
“Okay,” I whisper against his shoulder, kissing him lightly through his shirt. I don’t know why I did it, but now that I did, it makes me want to keep kissing him. I want to kiss every inch of him. “Will you take your shirt off?”
He pulls it off over his head without saying a word, keeping his eyes trained on me. I lick my lips at the sight of his bare chest. He’s so sexy, I can’t believe that he’s mine to touch. To experiment with.
