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“And, uh, how do you feel now?”
I like that he doesn’t immediately answer. That he takes a moment to find the right words. “Lighter. It’s as if I was carrying this heavy load before. One I’d been lugging around for so long that I’d gotten used to the weight, but it still weighed on me, still dragged me down. But I don’t feel that weight anymore.” He lifts a hand to cup my face. “When you’re around, my life is better. Lighter. Brighter. More vibrant. More alive. You’re the splash of color in my world, and I don’t want to go back to living in the gray.”
His gray eyes bore into mine. Usually stormy and chaotic, today, they appear peaceful. Cementing the truth behind his words. “I promise you we’ll be careful. I won’t do anything to put you in danger.”
“It’s you I’m more afraid for,” I confess in a breathy tone.
Sliding his hand into my hair, he fists the strands just enough to make me aware that his next words are important. “Outside of this room, we’ll act as though there’s nothing between us. However, when we’re here, I’ll worship your body the way it deserves. I’ll learn your mind until I can read you with a single glance. I’ll unearth every dream you’ve ever had for yourself, so I can help you realize them one day. Inside this room, we have the relationship we both want. The relationship we’ve been denying ourselves. The one I believe will make everything we’ve gone through worthwhile.”
My breathing is labored as I gaze into Hawk’s eyes, completely lost in the sincerity of his words and the depth of their truth shining in his eyes. So lost that I startle when I hear the sound of the front door slamming shut, ruining the moment.
“I have Chinese food,” Wilder calls out.
“I thought he was going to the frat house?” I ask Hawk, whose only response is awho the fuck knowslook paired with a shrug.
“Do we have a deal?” he asks, still regarding me intently.
“Yes, we have a deal.”
He pulls me in for a quick kiss, which is interrupted by the embarrassing noise of my stomach grumbling. Laughing, Hawk pulls me up, and we follow the delicious smell of warm food up to the kitchen.
Wilder is pulling out plates when we arrive, and Hawk moves over to the bag of takeout food, beginning to open containers and peering inside.
“How come you’re not at the frat?” he asks, scrunching his nose up at whatever he finds in one of the food boxes before setting it aside and moving on to open the next one.
I notice Wilder shrug from the corner of my eye as I grab utensils from the drawer, mostly so I have something to do with my hands instead of just standing here like an idiot. “Didn’t feel like it,” he says vaguely, swatting Hawk’s fingers away as they were about to dive in for a piece of pork.
“That’s not yours,” Wilder grumbles, snatching the box from Hawk and shoving a different one into his hands.
Hawk frowns as Wilder sets the box, along with another one, on one of the plates and pushes it toward me. I stare at the plate, shock freezing me in place.Is Wilder being nice right now, or is this some sort of trick?
Cautiously, as though a snake might jump out of the Chinese takeaway container and bite me, I peer beneath the lid.
“Sweet and sour pork,” Wilder says.
“Why is that one hers?” Hawk complains. “I like sweet and sour, too.”
“I got you Kung Pao chicken, so don’t complain.”
Hawk mumbles under his breath but helps himself to the chicken, piling it all onto his plate.
Wilder does the same, but all I can do is stare at my plate. Hawk might not know why the sweet and sour pork is just for me, but I do.
Because it’s my favorite.
And Wilder remembered that.
“Is Kai home?” Wilder asks, and it’s then that I realize there is food for a fourth person.
“Not yet,” Hawk answers, carrying his plate over to the table.
Wilder and I join him, and the three of us have a surprisingly pleasant meal. Wilder even talks to me like I’m a human being, and not the bane of his existence.
With a full belly and the stress from the last few days taking its toll, I soon find myself yawning. Barely able to keep my eyes open, I excuse myself and call it a night.
It’s a struggle to summon enough energy to even make it up the stairs, though somehow I do. Not even bothering to change out of my shorts and t-shirt, I climb underneath the covers. I don’t know if it’s the toll of everything finally catching up with me or what, but suddenly all I can think about is sleep, and my eyes drift shut the second my head hits the pillow.
* * *
