AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One thing at a time,” he answered, holding the coffee mug out to me.
“Okay,” I grumbled. I took a small sip, the hot liquid scorching my taste buds. “Jesus, Lawson, this is terrible. Where did you get this from?”
His lips pursed. “I made it.”
“It’s not that bad. I mean, I can drink it.” I was backpedaling. I apologized again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your coffee-making skills. It’s just a little…stronger than what I’m used to.”
His lips twitched. “My coffee prowess is about as good as your curry-making abilities, huh?”
I laughed, and even though it hurt to do it, nodded my head. “Pretty much.”
He chuckled along with me before announcing, “I’ve gotta get some stuff taken care of today, but I’m working from home, so I’ll just be down the hall.” He pulled my phone from the nightstand and handed it to me. “If you need anything, just text me.”
With more energy than I’d had in nearly a week, I bolted upright in the bed and grabbed his hand. “Please stay and hang out with me for a little while?”
His gaze traveled to where our hands were joined, so I gave his fingers a squeeze. I really needed some company. I could have asked Georgia to come over or called Smith and chatted for a while. But it was Lawson who I wanted to spend time with. He’d been full of surprises lately, and I found myself wanting to figure out why. I’d also wanted to know why he’d stayed with me while I was unconscious but had disappeared the moment I woke up. And more than that, I needed to get to the bottom of why I was starting to feel things about him that I couldn’t explain.
When his gaze came back to my face, I pleaded with my eyes for him to stay, just a little while. “Come on. Just an hour,” I whispered.
He dropped my hand and the cool a
ir where his skin had just been almost burned. “I wish I could. But really, I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“What’s one more hour?” I tried again.
He squeezed the back of his neck with one hand, checking his watch that was on his other wrist. “One hour?”
I nodded and flopped back against the pillows. “Thank you. I don’t think I can stand to listen to one more lecture. I need an actual person to talk to.” He didn’t move, so I teased. “You gonna just hover over me?”
I watched him closely as he made his way around my bed and settled onto the opposite side. He was careful not to jostle me too much, leaving plenty of room between us. I remembered the last time we’d sat together, and suddenly I wanted to feel his thigh pressed against mine again.
“The zoo, huh?” he asked. His head was resting against the headboard and he stared at the ceiling.
I lifted a shoulder. “Hey, I’m desperate here. I’d go hike a mountain right now if you’d let me.” I nudged him with my elbow.
We sat in silence for a few minutes and I began to wonder if asking him to stay was the right thing to do. Our relationship had improved over the last few weeks, but I doubted we would ever have the level of comfort Hampton and I shared. Ham wouldn’t have thought anything of climbing in the bed beside me, lying right against me and chattering on about nothing for hours.
But, as much as the silence was strange, it wasn’t awkward. It was something I’d come to actually enjoy about Lawson. He didn’t need to ramble on about unimportant stuff just to fill the emptiness.
“Hey, you remember when we were kids, and we were all out in the woods, building that fort?” His eyes were closed, but there was a wistful smile on his face.
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me and then tilted my own head back, mirroring his position. “Yeah. We spent all summer constructing it. We thought it was the coolest thing ever. Then Mom came out and took one look at it before declaring it a death trap and condemning it.” I laughed at the memory. “She was always ruining our fun.”
“Nah, she was just lookin’ out for us.”
I opened my eyes and looked at him again. “Kinda like you’ve been looking out for me lately?”
His jaw flexed, but he didn’t open his eyes. “Maybe.”
I shifted, turning my entire body to him, and slowly, let my fingers creep across the comforter to his forearm. “Law.” I flexed my fingers, letting my nails scrape over his skin lightly. His arms pebbled in goose bumps, but he didn’t look at me. “Mom said you stayed by my side the entire time I was out.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“But you didn’t come back once I was awake. Well, you did. But you didn’t come in. Why?”
The question had been burning in my head for days, but I’d been too much of a coward to ask.
“I made sure you were okay. Once I knew you were, I left you with the people you wanted to be with.” His voice was thick with emotion.
