Page 124
“I will never leave you,” he said tiredly. “I mean, unless you tell me to. I’m not a creep.”
I laughed and my sore stomach hurt.
He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. And for the first time maybe ever, I felt like I belonged somewhere.
CHAPTER 33
JUSTIN
The next morning when Emma woke up and wandered out of her bedroom, I was in the kitchen.
“Hey, you’re up,” I said, over the stove. “I’m making you oatmeal,” I said, nodding at the pot. “I figured it would be easy on your stomach. Maybe some bananas?”
She sat at the little table. “Thanks.”
I let my eyes linger on her longer than they should. I liked the way she looked. Rumpled and sleepy like this was the morning after I’d stayed the night. I mean I had stayed the night, but not in the way I wanted to.
I probably never would.
It was funny how much I wished I had these small, normal things. To wake up next to her and make her breakfast. Make plans for the holidays, ask her what she needed from the store on my way home and have our shows that we wouldn’t watch without each other.
I wouldn’t get these experiences. Not with her.
It was a hard reality to accept. I’d been trying.
I looked back at the pot so she wouldn’t see the expression on my face.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Like a human again.”
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Not like a human who got bit by a zombie?”
She laughed a little.
“I was thinking we could watch a movie or something,” I said. “If you’re feeling up to it.”
“You don’t have to go home?”
“No. I mean, unless you want some alone time or—”
“No. I don’t,” she said quickly.
“Okay.”
She peered over at me. “You’re… you’re not mad at me?”
I looked back down at the stove. “Why would I be mad at you?”
The words Because of What Happened Between Us the Other Day hung there.
“You haven’t really been texting me,” she said.
“You haven’t really been texting me. I just figured you were feeling small after what happened with Amber and you needed your space.”
She didn’t reply.
“I missed you,” I said, talking to her but looking at the oatmeal.
