AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Christopher!” I run after him, hopping over the laundry bag sitting precisely outside my door, as promised. “What the hell!”
“It’s a messy room, Kate.” He shrugs, standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking like a prince in a pauper’s hovel, surrounded by my chaos. “So what?”
I glare at him, my cheeks heating. “It’smymessy room.”
He stares at me. “So let me see it. You think I care? You think it’s going to scare me away?”
My eyes prick with tears. “I don’t know.”
“So, what are we doing, then? Hiding from each other, still? You’re just going to let me fuck you—”
“Don’t call it that,” I snap. “It’s more than that.”
“Exactly,” he says, stepping smoothly over an empty granola box. “Which means I get to see and want you not just when you’re naked in my arms and cute as hell wearing my clothes, but when you’re feeling emotional about life and work, when your room’s a mess and when you’re drowning in dirty laundry.”
“Easy for you to say!” I gesture up and down him. “You’ve got it all together.”
He lifts his eyebrows, then pauses, tipping his head. “You think I have it all together?”
I snort, but I’m not amused.
Gently, he takes me by the elbow and tugs me into his arms. “I don’t have it all together, Kate.”
“You have a kajillion dollars. A straightforward career. A beautiful home. A knack for doing laundry. And a brain that doesn’t make life delightful but also deeply frustrating sometimes.”
“Is that right?” He peers down at me. “Kate, you more than most know how unfair and unmerited generational wealth is. My dad was a shrewd businessman who died young and left me a good company—that’s hardly somethingIdid. As for my house, again, inherited, and it’s not beautiful by many people’s standards, just yours, which, frankly, is all I care about.” He bites his cheek. “And as for my brain... it is deeply,deeplyfrustrating. Often.”
I stare up at him, noticing for the first time since we hustled out of his house the smudges under his eyes, the pinch of pain at the corners of his mouth. “And have you told me how your brain is actually, truthfully feeling today?” I ask.
He glances away, scrubbing at his neck. “Not... exactly.”
“Huh. How’s that little quid pro quo lecture feeling now?”
“Kate...” He sighs heavily. “Fine. My head fucking hurts. There, you happy?”
“Happy? No.” I run a hand along his arm. “I hate that you hurt. That I can’t do shit about it. But I’m grateful that you told me.”
“Hmph.”
I smile up at him, gently taking over rubbing his neck. A little groan leaks out of him. “Sharing your mess is easier said than done, isn’t it?”
Christopher wraps his arms around me and sets his chin on my head. “Yes.”
Hugging him back, I settle my head over his heart. “Tell me. Try.”
He sighs heavily. “My neurologist thinks I need to try a new medication, but who the hell knows if it’ll help or make things worse, so I’m holding off, dreading committing to that course of action. So, yeah, often lately and today, my head fucking hurts. I slept well with you when we slept, but I didn’t sleep enough. I feel like I’ve got tiny woodland creatures scratching at the backs of my eyeballs and my neck hurts, and I hate it. Because I want to tell you to put on your Badazz Feminist playlist at full volume and headbang to songs with you while we tackle this room’s mess, then I want to lay you down on your freshly made bed and give you a couple orgasms, and I’m not sure I can do any of that right now.”
“So we won’t,” I tell him, rubbing his back. “Iwill clear off my bed and put fresh sheets on it. And then you will get out of those fancy clothes and put on the comfy things you keep in your little Christopher drawer. You’ll take whatever meds might help you get a lead on your migraine, and we’ll nap or do whatever you need to ride it out. We’ll take turns. You took care of me when I spiraled out this morning. I’ll take care of you now. Deal?”
He swallows thickly, his cheek suddenly resting heavy on my head. “And here I thought I had a novice negotiator on my hands.”
I smile against his chest, then kiss right over his heart. “You should know by now, I’m a very fast learner.”
•THIRTY-SIX•
Christopher
For a moment after my eyes open, I have no idea where I am. Strangely, I’m not in my bed. Even more strange, I feel deeply rested. Strangest, loveliest yet, I’m wrapped around the slope of a familiar waist. A small, soft breast is my pillow. A steady heartbeat thuds beneath my ear.
