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I raised my eyebrows. “Sleep with you?”
I didn’t know her skin could get any redder but it did. She crossed her arms tight over her chest, hugging herself. “Not like that. Not anything weird or—more. I just want someone to be with me. Just to sleep.”
“Just to sleep.”
She nodded. “Yes.”
The thought of curling up in Lark’s bed after I’d gotten a taste of her sounded easier said than done. I would do it for her, of course, but things suddenly seemed different. Lark had been my little sister’s best friend for so long. She’d been the odd girl who loved crafts and bright colors and loved Thea as much as I did.
Now, she was a full-grown woman. Gorgeous and so much stronger than she believed she was. She was broken, but we all were and it was our brokenness that truly showed our resilience. Our brokenness made us powerful because it proved that we fought. And Lark had fought harder than anyone I’ve ever known.
She was amazing.
I didn’t know what was happening between us, or if anything more would come from that one kiss, but I decided to be bold and grabbed her hands. I couldn’t help it; touching her made me feel stronger than I was.
Her hands were warm and soft and fit inside mine almost too perfectly. “Well,” I said. “It so happens that I don’t want to be alone tonight, either. I’d be honored to just sleep with you.”
I smiled, and she returned it. “Okay,” she said.
And then she turned, letting go of one of my hands but keeping hold on the other as she guided me forward. I followed as she led me to her room and closed the door behind us.
23
Reid
I woke up to a comforting, heavy weight on my chest and the smell of Lark surrounding me.
My eyes fluttered open, and I felt fully rested for the first time in a long while. So much happened yesterday; usually my thoughts would have me tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning. But the moment I curled up in the bed with Lark, it was like my mind cleared. It was almost like…magic.
My arm was wrapped around Lark, holding her against me. Her head was laid on my chest, one arm around me as her legs tangled with mine. We hadn’t fallen asleep like this, but I wasn’t complaining. It should’ve been awkward crawling into the bed of my sister’s best friend, but it wasn’t. It felt…natural.
I inhaled Lark’s scent, sweet and lightly floral, like lilacs. I placed a kiss on the top of her head. She didn’t stir. She looked peaceful as she slept, her face placid and soft, her mouth parted as she pulled in deep, even breaths. It took some self-control not to kiss those perfect lips.
“Lark.” I said her name quietly. I didn’t want to wake her, but I needed to use the bathroom and have a drink of water. She still didn’t move. My mouth tipped up into a smile. Damn. I had no idea what I thought I was doing with her, but she was freaking beautiful.
Carefully, I shifted Lark off my chest and onto the pillow next to me. She did nothing but let out a small sigh and buried her face deeper into the pillow, still fast asleep. I was glad she was getting some good rest.
I quickly used the restroom and gulped down some water. It was still very early and Winnie wasn’t anywhere to be seen. When I made it back to Lark’s room, she hadn’t moved. I grabbed my sweater from where I’d placed it on top of the dresser. I’d slept in my undershirt and jeans, which wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was fine.
As I pulled my sweater on, my phone vibrated. My heart skittered against my ribs. My breathing hitched as I took my phone out, fear shooting through my veins when I saw the name of the person who texted me. It was the same person who’d called me last night.
Xander Cohen.
With a shaking hand, I opened the text. It was simple, but the words tore my heart out.
The medical examiner confirmed. The body we found last night is Lily Baker.
I shoved through the door of the medical examiner’s office, my pulse roaring in my ears. A small hallway led to the main autopsy suite and when I looked up, a pair of dark eyes stared at me from the end of that hallway.
Xander had his arms crossed over his chest. His hair was more disheveled than usual, though his black suit looked pristine.
I tried to walk around him, but he caught my arm. “Hey, wait a minute.”
“I want to see her,” I said. It had been my first question when he’d told me it was confirmed to be Lily. Last night, when he told me they’d found a body that matched Lily’s description, I was able to hold on to the bit of hope that it wasn’t her, no matter how small the probability. Now, that hope was shattered.
A muscle in Xander’s jaw popped. “You need to calm down, Ramsey.”
I cursed. This wasn’t like me. I was trained to be calm in the face of a crisis. I’d worked for years in the department and only remembered a handful of times I’d felt like this. Like my lungs were being squeezed until I couldn’t breathe and my heart was going to burst right through my chest.
