Jake lightly brushed her leg with his hand, startling her out of her thoughts. “You okay?”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Yeah, I’m good. Just happy to be here.”
God, what’s wrong with me? Stop it.
But she knew what was wrong with her. Her hormones were out of control.
“I’m happy you’re here too,” he said softly.
Claire glanced at Ben, who was nearest to them, but he was engrossed in the game and didn’t pay them any attention.
“I missed you,” he said so quietly that she almost wondered if she had imagined it.
Ben whooping loudly had her flinching back and Jake straightening up in his seat away from her.
“Did you see that? Boom! You all suck!” Ben said. He stood up and did a dance in place as his character on the screen celebrated the win.
“Another round,” Theo called. “You’re going down.”
“You wish, pretty boy.”
Claire giggled at their antics and looked over at Jake, who was watching her with a small smile on his face. It reminded her exactly what she had left behind all those years ago.
9
It hadn’t even been forty-eight hours since Claire had come back into Jake’s life, and he was already right back to where he was four years ago. He never stopped loving her. Suppressed it maybe, but never stopped.
When they called it a night, everyone shuffled off to their bunks. They all stuck to the middle bunks, since the ones near the floor required getting onto the floor to get inside, and the ones on the very top required climbing. None of them cared for any of those options. But it had quickly become clear to Jake that Claire couldn’t do the top or bottom bunks with her injuries. Before anyone else had considered it, he immediately moved all his items to the bottom bunk across the aisle and gave her his bunk.
Now they were all tucked into their beds, the only sound coming from the engine rumbling and the tires on the road… and Ben snoring.
Jake shifted to the edge of his bed and pulled the curtain open to pop his head out. There wasn’t any movement from the other occupied bunks, but if he knew better, Claire was still awake. She had never been one to fall asleep easily on thebus. They had spent many nights chatting from their respective bunks, and sometimes going to the back of the bus to have late night chats.
Those were some of his fondest memories of their time together. The shows took a lot out of the guys and they all fell asleep quickly most nights, but since Claire came back, Jake knew sleeping would be difficult.
“Claire,” he whispered.
None of the curtains on the bunks moved except for hers. She leaned her head out and looked down at him across the hallway.
“Yes?”
Her hair was in a braid, and her makeup had been scrubbed free. Despite the dark bruises, she was still a sight to see. Still as beautiful as he remembered.
“How’s the bed?”
“Good.” She paused briefly and a small smile played at her lips. “You didn’t have to give me your bunk. I could have managed.”
“How did you know I gave you mine?”
She made a point to look down the hallway at the other closed curtains only on the middle bunks, plus one other near the floor. “Because everyone prefers the middle.”
She pulled her pillow closer to the edge so she could rest her head on it and still see him. “Plus, it smells like you.”
He pulled his pillow to the edge and got comfortable as well. “I wanted you to be comfortable.”
“I think you should worry about yourself. You’re the one who needs to perform tomorrow. I can manage.”
“I can sleep anywhere. It doesn’t make a difference to me.”
