AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I grinned at him when he took the washcloth to the bathroom. Max crawled back into bed moments later. While he scooted close to me, anxiety, my dear old friend, found its way back into the moment.What am I supposed to do now?
He yawned. “I wish I didn’t have to get up so early.” I looked at the clock. It read three in the morning. Wow. Yes, it was late. “But I have to go talk to the fishermen directly. I just haven’t been happy with… You know what, never mind. I’m not going to think about that right before bed.
Was he asking me to leave? Yes, I was pretty sure he was. That was a classic line, wasn’t it? TheI have to get up early, so you should be goingcliché. “I’ll grab my stuff.”
He touched my arm. “Hold on. Where are you going?”
I swallowed. “Home. You said you have to get up early.”
Max shook his head fast. “Oh, no. I was thinking out loud, not suggesting you should go. I didn’t mean that. I was just talking.No, I say what I mean. If I wanted you to leave, I’d say it.” He paused. “Unless youwantto leave. That’s entirely your right, and all that.”
We’d spun full circle and fast. I bit down on my lip. “I’ll stay, if that’s okay.”
It wasn’t like I was likely to sleep in general, but I liked the idea of staying right where I was for the night. His bed was warm, and Max was practically a furnace of heat that seeped into my skin in the best possible way. He turned off the light. “Do you want the TV on?”
“No, I’m good. I probably won’t sleep, but sometimes I just want the quiet.” I paused. “You know what I mean?”
The darkness covered us like a blanket, and as Max tucked me in against him, I let it fold over me. “I do, actually.”
I woke up slowly.My eyes were practically glued shut, and I moaned, not wanting to give up the nothingness of sleep and the comfort it brought. When sleep was hard, actually falling into dreams was like a privilege, like the gods of rest wrapped their arms around me and temporarily granted me manna from heaven. I rubbed my eyes open, then realized where I was.
Max’s bed.
Last night rushed back as it dawned on me that I must have literally passed out on Max, because I had no memory of falling asleep. That kind of sleep was so rare for me that I almost couldn’t remember the last time it happened.Months maybe?As for Max, he wasn’t there, which wasn’t surprising since the light streamed bright into the room and he’d said he had to be up early.
Fuck.I hadn’t even heard him get up. I shook my head. Okay. He hadn’t woken me. Or maybe he’d tried and I’d just been so out of it, he’d left me there. How embarrassing would that be?
I groaned and threw my head back against the pillows again. I didn’t do anything normally, not even wake up in the morning. I rolled over, grabbing my phone off the side table. I had no memory of putting it there. If anything, it was in the pocket of my pants, which had been on the floor. Unless I started sleepwalking on top of everything else, Max must’ve picked it up, plugged it into his charger, and left it there.
That was really…nice of him. He did things like that. Just gentle touches of care, like giving me his coat because I was ridiculous about fashion and hadn’t wanted to mess up my outfit. I rubbed my eyes again. How had I become this person, and was it too late to do something about it?
A message lit up, and I looked down at my phone. He’d texted me.
Hey, hope I didn’t wake you leaving. Coffee on in the kitchen. Left you breakfast on a plate in the fridge. Warm it up. Three minutes in the microwave. Busy tonight?
I was absolutely not busy. My heart fluttered at all the things he’d done for me so that I could stay asleep. Had anyone ever done that for me? Ever? I didn’t think so.
I swung my legs out of bed, and after I used the bathroom—and the toothbrush he’d laid out for me—I texted him back.Thanks for all of this. Sorry, I think I must have just conked out. Not busy tonight.
The three little dots that showed he was writing popped up before he answered a second later.Love that you fell asleep. I did too. Everything I could do to not turn off my alarm and sleep with you all day. Can I see you since you’re not busy?
I grinned, happiness flooding through me and pushing out, for once, my constant anxiety.Sure. Sounds good.
It really did.
I triedto make a list of all the jobs I might be qualified for and then gave up. I went to the gym and managed to avoid seeing anyone there. Showered, dressed, and with nowhere to go, I stared at my mother’s painting, wishing it could tell me all her secrets. Why had she loved my father? What mistakes had she made? Or maybe there were more important questions. Had she loved my father? Had she stopped? Did she ever? Why did she do what she did?
The painting told me nothing. It never did, but it did prompt me to pick up the phone and actually call Bridget. We texted all the time, but when was the last time I’d heard her voice? Had I at all since she moved away? Morning in New York meant nighttime for her. Hopefully, it meant she’d be home from working.
“Hello?” She sounded awake, and I briefly heard a TV in the background before she shut it off. I could communicate in both French and Spanish, but neither would help me if I decided to go visit my sister.
“Hi.” It was good to hear her voice. “How are you?”
“Are we actually talking on the phone? Voice to voice? Have we traveled back in time?”
I sank down to the floor. There had been a time the three of us—Bridget, Layla, and me—had been so close, but lately, we lived three separate lives, connected only because we were totally screwed over by our father and needed constant bodyguards to keep the Russian mob from killing us.
I laughed. “Don’t you want to hear from me?”
