Page 26 of Silent Damage

Gabe cocks his head to the other side.

I wait some more.

Then it begins, and a rush of excitement whooshes in my stomach as Gabe’s hand moves like lightning, sketching the tree.

I creep to the back door to get a better view, but his body still blocks the drawing, so I slowly open it, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Gabe doesn’t notice when I tiptoe outside, inching closer and closer to see the picture.

I finally get a good look at it—

So good.

He can draw a tree and make it look like a photograph just as well as he can draw some outrageous anime-style monster.

His hand whips across the page, zigzagging and curving, crafting a spitting image of this busted old tree in the backyard.

My eyes trail up to his profile.

His hair is longer than the last time I saw him, and it’s wavier now. His lashes are long—always have been—and his skin is super pale.

He gets this look in his eyes when he focuses on drawing. He was always a nervous kid, looking away if someone made eye contact with him for too long, but he gets this determined expression when he’s sketching. His features relax, and I can see how pr—

I almost called him pretty.

Oh, fuck me sideways.

This is bad.

But I can’t look away.

I walk a little closer, telling myself I just want to see the picture, but I’m not looking at the picture.

I’m watching him.

Without realizing it, I crouch down and just…stare.

Then his hand stops, and he slowly turns to me.

Our eyes meet and, suddenly, everything feels like a dream.

Those big brown eyes…

I can’t stop looking.

Holy fuck.

I shake my head, snapping me out of this trance, and stand up.

“Where’s the fucking coffee?” It’s the first thing that popped into my head, so I just blurted it out.

Gabe’s eyes aren’t like they were last night. There was mischief in them when he was being a brat, but they’re different today.

Sad.

My chest tightens.

I turn on my heels and dart back into the trailer, slamming the door and falling against it as I try to catch my breath and scrub my hands over my face.