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“Sorry?”
“We arrived five minutes ago.”
Laney slowly raises to sit and looks out the window. “Look alive, Houseman. We made it.”
“My eyes feel so slippery.” I blink them over and over.
“Come on,” Laney says, pulling at my arm. “We have to get out.”
Dave opens the door, and I wince from the sun reflecting off his head. “Do you two need help inside?”
“I just need to feel,” I admit, emotion clogging my throat.
“It’s going to be okay, man,” Dave says.
He’s so close when he speaks, I jerk away from him.
Laney grabs my hand, pulling me from the car. “I’ve got you, Theo. Bye, Dave.”
“You two be careful.”
“We’re positive,” Laney tells him, throwing my arm over her shoulder.
“You think he knows I can’t feel my feet?”
“He’s aware. You stay put.” She says, depositing me on her porch. “I think I have some eggrolls.”
“Oh, I want them so bad. Will you bring them to me?”
“For you, I will.”
“Thanks, Laney.”
Theo
The sun wakes me peeking through a cloud under the overcast sky. I rouse with a wad of hair in my mouth, covered in a sleeping Laney. The warmth streams through the teepee window at the top of our fortress. Fuzzy memories come back to me in waves. Laney had pulled out half of her gear from the shed next to her house insisting we camp out, so we didn’t disturb her sleeping mother who had a shift in a matter of hours. Stoned out of our minds, it took us a small eternity to pitch the tattered tent amongst the thick of the trees in her front yard. Safe in our cocoon, we unleashed laughter that lasted for hours. And I’m positive she made the pizza delivery guy shit his pants when she jumped out into the drive waving her hands like a lunatic to intercept the delivery from reaching the front door. I can’t help my chuckle when I remember the look on his face.
My stomach is sore from all the laughing we did.
What started out as the worst morning imaginable, easily turned into one of the best days of my life. Because of her.
She shifts, her thick locks tickling my nose as she slumbers sprawled on my chest. The air inside the tent warms as she burrows further into me, gripping my bicep and holding me to her with a thigh stretched across my stomach. I need to take a leak, but I fight like hell not to disturb the peace. Instead, I stare down at her, memorizing what I can—flawless brown skin, a freckled nose, dark lashes, and full, bee-stung lips.
I’ll never fucking learn.
Even with the red flag of Nora tossed in my face only this morning, I can’t stop imagining what it would be like to truly be with Laney.
My attachment is much too evident at this point as I study her, and that’s all I seem to be doing lately when I’m not thinking about her. I don’t want to contemplate our differences. Not with the way she fits so perfectly on top of me. No matter how hard I’ve tried to stop it, I’ve fallen under her spell. She makes me want, and often.
She’s entirely too much woman to ignore.
Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, I inhale her signature scent of mint and citrus. I love the smell and allow myself to indulge while I have this chance. Holding her to me, I slide my thumbs against her skin in a caress. We’re both fully dressed, but with my thoughts, I feel exposed, despite still being in our cocoon.
I’m completely myself with her, and she with me. I know this. I don’t question our connection or the authenticity of our friendship. It’s not chemistry we lack, it’s the readiness on her part that I need to feel. And after that exchange in the coffee shop, everything shifted, at least for me.
I no longer want to be adorable to Laney.
The clarity has my heart aching and my eyes wide open.
