Page 24 of If You Stayed

I washed my face and slipped into my pajamas before crawling into my side of the bed. We shared a California king. Sometimes when I was in that bed, I felt so far away from him, but we weren’t a cuddly couple. I’d be shocked if our feet even touched beneath the comforter.

I clicked off my nightstand lamp and fluffed my pillow a little before melting into a comfortable sleeping position.

“I’ll have the light off soon,” Henry said as he flipped a page in his book. “Maybe another hour.”

“That’s fine.” I turned to face him. My heart was scattered in a few places that evening. A part of it went to bed with Ava, another part was left thinking about Gabriel, and the rest remained hovering over Henry’s and my room. “Henry?”

“Hmm?”

“Are we happy?”

He glanced my way and lowered his reading glasses for a moment before turning back to his novel. “Let’s not do this tonight, Kierra.”

“What does that mean?”

“Ask these stupid questions. Of course we’re happy. We have everything we could ever need.”

“Like?”

“Money,” he said. “Success, and Ava. I have everything I need.”

“Is there anything I could do to make you happier?”

He leaned over and smiled before kissing my head. “You could go to sleep and stop overthinking.”

“Okay.” I shifted slightly before turning away from him. “Good night.”

“Night.”

I fell asleep for a little while before I was awakened by Henry shaking my arm. “Hey, Kierra. Wake up.”

I grumbled a little and rubbed my eyes. “Yeah?”

“I was thinking about your question. About how you could make me happier.”

I turned, somewhat surprised. “You woke me up to tell me that?”

“Yeah. I figured if I didn’t, I’d forget.”

“Okay.” I yawned. “What can I do?”

“Drink differently.”

I sat up. “What?”

“During the dinner parties. You always wear your red lipstick, then you sip out of your glass all around the rim, getting lipstick all over. It would make me happy if you drank from the same spot. It’s embarrassing having others see how you drink.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Yeah, okay, Henry.” His intense stare gave me a bit of a shock. I sat up straighter. “You’re serious.”

“I am. It’s ridiculous. No grown woman should leave three different lipstick stains on one glass.”

Oh.

Wow.

“I’ll try to do better,” I muttered as I lay back down.

“Don’t try, just do. You’re not weak. You can avoid getting lipstick everywhere. Even Ava does better than you with that,” he said before shutting off his lamp. “Night.”

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