Eagle River slept peacefully.
I wondered what that felt like.
A soft knock on the wall had me glancing up.
Hersh stood there.
“Flick?”
Everything inside me melted and shattered at the same time.
Only him.
Only Hersh could still do that to me.
“You okay?”
No.
Not even remotely.
He stood there holding two mugs of hot chocolate.
His eyes moved over my face instantly.
Checking.
Assessing.
Making sure I was okay before he even stepped closer.
“I saw the light on,” he said quietly. “I thought you were going to try to get some sleep.
The room suddenly felt much smaller with him this close.
Or maybe it just felt fuller.
Warmer.
Dangerous.
He carefully handed me one of the mugs.
Our fingers brushed.
One tiny touch.
Sixteen years disappeared all over again.
I hated that.
I loved it too.
Hersh sat in the armchair across from the couch while I stayed near the window.
Neither of us spoke for a minute.
Justcoffee.
