Page 6 of After the Storm

“Favorite animal?” I question. I’m staring at the ceiling now, but I can feel her eyes burning into me.

She sighs. “You know, you don’t have to distract me. I’m okay,” she says quietly. I nod.

“I know, but it’s still nice to get out of your head before you go and face people,” I add, and she hums in agreement.

We spend another half hour just talking and pretending like everything isn’t falling apart. When we finally head back downstairs, breakfast is already cleaned up. It seems everyone has gone on with their day but us.

I’m overly aware of the fact that those moments, tucked away in bed and hiding from the world, were likely the last ones I’ll have like this with Audra. Ares is home now and life will go back to normal. She’ll lean on her best friend and I’ll go back to just being Ares’ older brother.

The thought stings, but it’s not like there’s any other outcome. This is how it’s always been. Me pining after Audra, and her not having a single clue about it. Endless hours of sitting in the kitchen when she’d spend the night here, hoping we’d run into each other so I could spend that little bit of time with her.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been hopelessly waiting for the day Audra Hart put me on her radar. But the day never came. She never did.

* * *

The restof the day plays out pretty normal. Audra spends her whole day hanging out with Ares and Ravyn next door, and I sit in my room listening to my R&B music.

A quiet knock on my door grabs my attention. Had I been a little less in my head about Audra, I might’ve known it was her. Instead, like a complete idiot, I groan from the bed where I’m lying and call out, “Come in!”

“Wanna take me home?” Her soft voice echoes from the door frame. She’s cracked the door just enough to show her short and slender frame. On her face she’s wearing a small, sheepish smile. God, seeing that smile on her face feels better than anything I could hear on this record player. It feels fucking amazing to see her smiling on her own after last night.

“Ares doesn’t want to take you?” I ask. I don’t know why I do it, why I can’t just take the win. She steps through the door before speaking again.

“He did. I told him I thought you might want to, and that I wanted to thank you either way.” Her voice is sweet and she sounds almost normal, almost like the Audra I knew before last night at the front door.

“Well, who can say no to being thanked.” I stand up and grab my keys. “Come on,” I laugh, walking out the door with her.

* * *

I don’t remember ever havingAudra in my Jeep, at least never by herself. I might’ve taken Ares, Audra, and Ravyn somewhere a time or two, but that changed when Ravyn got her license a few months after I did.

“Do you know how to get to my house?” Audra asks.

I nod. “Yeah, I only picked Ares up from there a thousand times in high school,” I tease.

She laughs and I feel the muscles in my chest loosen. I was so worried about her after she showed up at the house like that. Hell, I’m still worried about her, but it feels like a tolerable amount now.

“Is your mom going to be there?” I ask. I hope it doesn’t come across as invasive, I just want to know she won’t be alone so soon after everything.

She gives me another small smile and nods. “Yeah. She doesn’t have another trip for a few weeks.”

Good.Is all I can think. We drive the rest of the way to her house in comfortable silence, and I find myself wanting to take her hand. I try to convince myself it’s because I want to comfort her, but it’s a weak excuse when I think about the fact I’ve wanted to hold her hand since middle school.

We pull into her driveway a few minutes later. I draw blanks thinking of something thoughtful to say to keep her in the car just a little while longer. Instead, I look over to her and say, “I believe I was promised some thanks if I drove you home.” She laughs, a full blown belly laugh this time.

“I can’t thank you enough. I don’t know how last night would’ve ended if you hadn’t been there or if I’d tried to walk straight home. I was in a really bad place. You’ll never know what you did for me by sitting with me while I cried,” she gushes. My heart squeezes in response.

“Please call me if you need me, Audra. No one has to know, okay?” It’s not great, but it’s the only response I can come up with in the moment.

She offers me another one of her small, sweet smiles right before she leans across the console of my Jeep and kisses my cheek.Kisses me right on the fucking cheek. I used to pray for times like this! My face is red hot. I must look like an idiot, lost for words over a kiss on the cheek.

Audra puts me out of my misery and speaks.“You’ve been lovely, Roman. I promise if I need you, I’ll call,” she says, opening the door and climbing out of my car.

All I can do is nod before she closes the door and walks up to her front porch. She opens the front door, turning to wave at me slowly before walking inside. I watch the door close, unaware that I’m still waving back. As I move to reverse out of her drive, I catch sight of myself in my rear view mirror. I’m wearing the dopiest smile on the planet, blush still stained across my face.

Oh shit.

Chapter3

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