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“What did you have?” I push my iPad and pencil to the side and lean back against the headboard of my bed, crossing my legs at the ankle.
“Charles has taken to making me up a meal so all I have to do is swing through the deli kitchen and grab it after the hospital. Tonight it was a chicken salad wrap with fresh dill.”
“Damn, that sounds good. I had boring turkey.”
Lilly settles onto her couch. I can see the kitchen behind her. “You’re in Buffalo and you didn’t get spicy buffalo wings?”
“Hey, hey, hey,” I admonish sternly. “I’m an elite athlete. One does not eat spicy chicken wings before a playoff game. Or any game, for that matter.”
Lilly laughs and sinks deeper into the cushions. “What did you do today?”
I recount everything that’s happened since our flight in, right down to my call with Claire, my guitar practice and my sub meal. “I was sketching when you called.”
“I loved watching those mandala videos you sent me,” she says. “They’re hypnotizing.”
One of the things I do on the digital app is create intricate mandalas. It’s a great meditative activity and then I can do a creation video of the final product. They are indeed mesmerizing.
“And how’s Aiden?”
Lilly smiles as she shakes her head. “To be honest, he was kind of a brat today, which I take to mean he’s feeling better. But yeah… he’s getting a little tired of being in the hospital.”
“A little? He’s got to be going crazy. How long has it been?”
“Right at seven weeks now, counting the original blast of chemo when the leukemia returned. Almost four weeks since the transplant.”
“Jesus,” I murmur.
“He’s such a good sport though.” Lilly’s eyes turn a little dreamy. “And turns out, there’s a new girl on the ward that I think he has a crush on. While I was working today in his room, he went on a walk on his own and Lori told me later he was in her room playingScrabble.”
“No shit?” I exclaim. “Aiden, my man.”
“He’s only eleven,” Lilly grumbles, going from swoony romanticism to overprotective sister.
“Almost twelve,” I point out.
“Did you like girls at that age?” She twirls a lock of hair around her finger but not in a flirtatious way. Almost as if she just can’t quite sit still since she’s used to being on the go all the time.
“Nah,” I drawl with a smirk. “Only first became interested in this girl named Lilly.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me. “Oh, yeah?”
“Don’t remember any girls before her,” I say, and that’s not a lie.
Lilly squints slightly, her head shaking slowly. “I still don’t get it.”
“Quit trying to get it,” I admonish. “I like you. You like me.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes.
“And,” I say, lowering my voice, “if you’ll be truthful, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing me on that boat.”
Thanks to the quality iPhone screen, I can see Lilly blush, which means I don’t even need her to admit it out loud. The reddening of her cheeks and the way her eyes dart away tells me everything.
Oh boy, did we kiss. The river tour under the blazing city lights was unparalleled but we shared one more kiss when I walked her up to her apartment door, and it was far more than the romantic ones we’d shared earlier. There was some deep sizzle to it and Lilly made a breathy moan. I had to pull away because my body reacted and almost demanded that I make her do it again.
Slow and steady, I had to remind myself.
Lilly yawns, trying to stifle it with her hand over her mouth before it comes out. “Sorry,” she mutters.
