Page 30 of Silent Heart

Careful so as not to wake her, I shifted the stranger off my body. It was dark out, and Harley wasn’t coming for swimming lessons because of the rain.

Which sounded a lot like the…running faucet? I flicked the bathroom light to the dimmest setting to confirm.

Stirring sheets sounded behind me, and I turned back.

“Kole!” The woman sat up in bed, reaching for me.

I knew that voice.

A bolt of relief laced heavily with confusion shot through me. “What are you doing?”

“Me?” Harley protested. “Me!”

“Yes.”

“Youcame to me last night. Walked the whole lake to reach me, and then struggled with the storm. I managed to get you home, dried you off, and then—” She stopped abruptly.

“Yes?” I hedged.

“We fell asleep, that was all.”

Probably a good thing. “Why is the sink running?”

“Background noise,” Harley muttered. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

Gently, I tucked my fingers under her chin. She turned into my touch but didn’t meet my gaze through the shadows. “What else.”

“I don’t want to say,” she whispered.

Oh saints, what did I do?I struggled to draw a breath. “I need to know.”

Imagining the worst, I wasn’t prepared for what she said next. Something strange and foreign rumbled up my chest. The feeling was like an explosion of carbonation. A sound, the texture of gravel, clawed out of my throat.

Harley flattened her hand against my sternum. “What the hell is so funny?”

But I couldn’t breathe, I was laughing too hard.

“Kole!” She rose on her knees, sliding her touch to grip my shoulder.

“My alter ego is scared of thunder,” I gasped between bursts of wry laughter. “What a pussy!”

Harley continued to stare at me until the humor died out.

I thought there was no silver lining to my situation. I became a zombie, cursed to be a machine that no one could control. There was nothing good about that, I wasn’t even useful! Turned out, I was wrong. Swinging my legs out of bed, I went to splash water on my face and grab a toothbrush.

Harley sat on the edge of the bed. I felt her steady gaze.

I should tell her. Explain what kept happening to me.

Only then…she’d see my weakness for what it was.

Soft footsteps padded across the floor. “Are you mad?”

“No,” I said gruffly.

“Sure seems like it.” Harley’s voice faded away.

She was leaving. I fisted my hands on the bathroom vanity, staring hard at my reflection. This woman had been nothing but kind to me. And here I was, letting her walk away.

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