Page 3 of After the Storm

I wakeup to the sound of Ares and Ravyn stumbling into the living room, loud and smelling heavily of weed.Makes sense. It takes me a second to register I’m asleep on Ares’ couch, snuggled into the chest of his older brother.

At some point, I must have cried myself to sleep. We’ve now sunken into the couch, Roman on his back, and me tucked into his side with my head on his chest. The steady rise and fall of Roman’s breathing leads me to believe he’s asleep. I pretend to be asleep too. Like a little kid to avoid the conversation of why I’m here asleep on Ares’ brother’s chest.

“Ooooh! Roman has a girl over…” Ravyn states in a sing-song tone. As soon as she says it, I realize how this must look. My heart sinks.Please. Please do not realize it’s me.

“Oh shit. She kinda looks like Audra,” Ares laughs. I can hear in his voice how drunk he is.Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Yeah, she kinda does, with the black and white hair. She even has a tattoo on her wr—” Ravyn stops as the realization clicks in. “Ares, I think thatisAudra.”

“What? No. There’s no way,” he exclaims and then there’s a pause. “Oh shit, that is her.” A wave of silence, somehow both far too long and far too short, rolls over the living room. “I’m so confused, what’s she doing here? With Roman? What about Tyler?” I tense at his name and immediately feel Roman’s thumb swipe over my shoulder as a comfort.Thank God. He’s awake.

“You two are gonna wake her up. Have you ever come home quiet before?” Roman grumbles.

“Is that Audra?” They both blurt out at the same time.Oh, they’redrunkdrunk.

“Obviously,” he says, annoyance obvious in his voice. I hope he isn’t embarrassed to be here with me.

“Why is she here? And why is she with you?” Ares demands. For a moment, I fear this will become a far bigger deal than it needs to be.

“She came here crying looking for you or mom, but neither of you were here. She walked over and was soaking wet from the rain. I told her to at least let me give her clothes and a ride home. She said she wanted to stay here and wait for you, so I gave her a change of clothes and we decided to watch a movie while we waited for you to get home,” Roman explained.

“What happened? Did her and Tyler break up?” Ares is coming in hot with questions and I feel my heartbeat begin to pick up.“And why is she all cuddled up with you?” Ares is deep in interrogation mode. With every question, I feel my chest tightening.

“Can youpleasekeep your voice down?” Roman sighs loudly at Ares. “I’m not getting into her business. I’m sure she’ll explain everything to you. As for the ‘cuddling’,” the sarcasm in his voice is unmistakable, “I was comforting her while she cried and we both fell asleep like that.”

My chest clenches again, but this time it’s not out of fear. My heart warms at the privacy Roman gifted me in such a casual way. The room is silent for longer than anyone seems comfortable with.

“Thank you,” Ares says quietly.

“For what?”

“Skipping night surfing to take care of her.”Oh. I had no idea I ruined Roman’s plans by coming here. The last thing I wanted was to be a burden on anyone, yet here we are.

“I was right where I needed to be,” Roman says pointedly, making it clear that the discussion is over. I feel a gentle brush of his hand followed by a small squeeze to my shoulder. I know then that he knows I’m awake and just how uncomfortable the prior interaction made me.

“I’m just going to let her sleep. When she wakes up, I’ll either take her home or I’ll tell her you’re home and she can come up to your room,” Roman offers. Ares seems to agree.

I hear Ares and Ravyn shuffle off, heading up the stairs towards Ares’ room. Their departure lightens the burden of discomfort but the heaviness of the evening remains. On top of everything with Tyler, I’m stuck here with the knowledge that I ruined Roman’s plans and worse, was caught tangled up in his arms, leaving me with one more thing to try and explain in the morning.

And if that’s not bad enough; I don’t have a good explanation, not foranyof it. Not for how I ended up lying with Roman and not for why I came here tonight. All I have is what Roman’s already said and I don’t know when I’ll be ready to talk about anything else.

“I know you’re awake,” Roman teases in an attempt to break up the tense silence. I look up at him and roll my eyes.

“You could have gone surfing. I was fine,” I say, scooting away from him.

He lets out a half laugh, pulling me back to him. “You were not fine, and that’s okay. I was where I needed to be.” I start to protest, but Roman shoots me a look, effectively telling me it would be useless. “You should get some more sleep.”

“I don’t need you to hold me all night, I’ll be fine,” I argue.

“Audra, it’s okay to not be fine,” he says, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “If you can honestly tell me you’re going to sleep just as well tonight if you walk up there and sleep in Ares’ room, I’ll let you go right now. But if not, I’m more than fine with going to sleep on this couch with you hooked under my arm and letting you get one good night of rest before you start taking on whatever’s next.”

His words are brutally honest and I love it. No hidden meanings, no underlying motives. He’s right, I won’t sleep well. I’ll either be questioned mercilessly by Ares and Ravyn, or they’ll be asleep and I’ll lie awake in my safest place, reliving the worst day of my life.

“You’re right. I won’t be able to sleep if I go up there,” I sigh, laying my head back on his chest. The arm he has around me tightens, holding me close to him.

“How long has this been going on?” he asks so quietly it’s practically a whisper against my hair.

“Too long,” I state dryly. I debate leaving it there, but I can’t ignore the relief that exists in telling someone what happened. “We were together for just over two years. It’s been like this for about a year now, I guess.”

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