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Casey stepped forward into the blizzard, each puff of white clinging to her hair as she giggled. “It’s fucking April!” she screamed into the storm.
With quick steps, they made it to the building’s front entrance, and Casey rammed her keys into the lock. Her foot caught on the first step as she started the climb with a snicker.
“This is where we first met, Cinderella.”
Her feet halted on the second-floor landing as she turned to grin. “You need a wand and a blue robe, fairy godmother.”
A laugh fell from his lips as he moved past her, continuing up the stairs. “Hard pass on the blue robe. But I’ll take the wand.”
She giggled, following his footsteps until they reached the third floor. Casey inserted her key in the lock and pushed the door open. “Welcome home, roomie!”
The bare white walls returned his gaze. Little had changed in the weeks since he’d left; even the tattered blanket on the couch still rested in the corner of the sofa. Austin stepped inside as his eyes caught sight of a pink flower-shaped balloon tied to a dining room table chair. It readCongratulations!along each petal.
With a grin, he gripped the ribbon of the balloon, running it through his fingers as Casey dropped her purse on the table beside him. “How’d you know pink was my favorite color?”
“Women’s intuition.”
He laughed and reached forward, inviting her into a hug. As she fell into his embrace, his arms encircled her, squeezing her small form—the chill of her clothing meeting his own. “Thanks, Case,” he whispered, tightening his grasp. “You’ve made this move really easy on me.”
She snorted. “I mean, it’s just Midwestern nice.”
His hand rested on the small of her back, cradling his sole friend in a new place, in a new space. Seemingly content to stay wrapped in his arms, she sighed and closed her eyes.
Don’t move, Casey girl.
“You know, you really should wear a coat when it’s this cold.”
“So should you, California boy.”
He giggled. “I definitely don’t have one for this weather.”
“Well then let’s go shopping, roomie.”
––––––––
His mind raced. Witha glance at the clock, the bright red numbers changed from 12:59 AM to 1:00 AM. Austin groaned and flipped the pillow, his eyes searching every corner of the new room.
She’s still here.
Her essence—her soul—every piece of her still lived and breathed in the depths of the shadows. Austin inhaled, pressing his nose into the pillow.Mavis’s pillow.He moaned.Mavis’s bed. Rolling his body, he turned to face the wall. A smudge caught his eye, and he ran his fingers over it with a frown. “That’s definitely not marker, Princess.”
A knot formed in his stomach as he curled his legs into his body, recalling the moment he first saw the red smear.FaceTime. Five months ago.“So much has happened,” he whispered to the darkness.
The back of his eyelids prickled and burned. Blinking hard, Austin swung his legs off the bed and dropped his feet to the cold floor. He dragged his hands across his cheeks and sighed. “This was a really bad idea,” he muttered. His gut churned, bubbling over with the familiar sense of defeat and sorrow. He shook his head and let his hands fall back to the mattress. Gliding his fingers over the new jacket Casey had picked out for him, a small smile tugged at his lips. She was a single light in the darkness—an unanticipated new friendship.
He turned his head, dropping his gaze back to the pillow as Casey fell from his mind. The white linen sheets had wrinkled beneath the weight of his body as he tossed and turned. He ran a hand along the creases, each small mountain of material inviting Mavis back into his heart. He pictured her, snuggled beneath the blankets as every curve of her body rested atop the sheets, nestled into the warmth—and me curling up beside you...
Austin shivered, hurling the image from his mind.Fuck this.He bolted from the room, tiptoeing out the door and down the unfamiliar hallway to the living room. A stray pink shoe caught his big toe and he stumbled, catching himself on the kitchen counter. He scowled and kicked it away with a frown.
Sinking into the sofa, his knees greeted his face as he sighed and stuffed his feet beneath him. He snatched the remote control and powered on the TV, impatiently tapping each button until the room glowed in the tiny source of light. A rerun of a nineties sitcom ... an infomercial... a court show... “Total bullshit,” he murmured until John Wayne looked back from the next channel.
Where’s theLord of the Ringsmarathon when you need it?
Pulling Casey’s blanket from the corner of the couch, he draped it across his bare shoulders and snuggled in. A grin tugged at his lips as John Wayne bet his cat, General Sterling Price, in a game of poker. He snorted, some of the heavy weight from his heart lifting and floating back to the bedroom behind him.
Take a deep breath, Austin. Remember... time and distance can only help.
Padding back down the hallway to the kitchen, he opened two wrong cabinet doors before his gaze landed on Casey’s mismatched set of glassware. Austin wrinkled his nose.Which one would Mavis have had her lips on?Cringing at the question, he snagged a small mason jar.Definitely not this one.He flipped on the faucet and filled the cup to the brim as Casey’s door squeaked open.
