“For coming when Marnie called. For staying. For waking me up every two hours even though you’re exhausted. For giving me another chance when I don’t deserve it.”
“You’re welcome.” She presses a kiss over my heart. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”
We drift off tangled together with the sun starting to filter through the windows. And for the first time in days, maybe for the first time ever, everything feels exactly right.
She loves me.
And I’m never letting her go.
33
JULIETTE
March 24
Romeo is a terrible patient.
Not terrible in the demanding, whiny sense. Terrible in the I-can’t-sit-still-for-five-consecutive-seconds sense. Like a golden retriever who’s been told the park is closed forever.
It’s been three days since his concussion and he’s currently sitting across from me in the athletic training room, staring at the wall while his leg jiggles up and down with barely contained energy.
I’m trying to finish a report for Marnie and he’s trying not to vibrate out of his skin with boredom.
“Stop plotting,” I say without looking up from my laptop.
“I’m not plotting.”
He’s absolutely plotting. Probably about sneaking onto the ice when no one’s watching. His eyes keep drifting toward the rink like a compass pointing north.
“I will tell Marnie.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
He slumps further in his chair and sighs dramatically, radiating misery so intensely I can feel it from across the room.
I last another ten minutes before I give in and close my laptop. I cross to where he’s sprawled out looking like the world’s most pathetic professional athlete.
“You know the rules. No skating for two weeks. Doctor’s orders.”
“What if I just?—”
“No.”
“But—”
“Romeo.” I lean down with my hands on the armrests until we’re eye to eye. “You have a brain injury. Your brain is injured. Do you understand what that means?”
“That I’m bored out of my mind?”
“That you could seriously hurt yourself if you’re not careful.” I soften slightly because he does look genuinely miserable. “Two weeks. Then you’re cleared. You can handle two weeks.”
His expression shifts and goes soft in that way that makes my stomach flip. “You worried about me, Ice Queen?”
“Someone has to be since you clearly aren’t worried about yourself.”
I kiss him before he can respond.
