Page 73 of Bar Down

I roll my eyes and gently push her shoulder. She pretends to be mortally wounded as she stumbles and slides herself down against the door. I laugh and she looks up at me, grinning. When I offer her a hand to stand up, she takes it.

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out with you and Jordan,” I say quietly, patting her arm.

She looks surprised but quickly deflects. “Oh it’s—well, it wasn’t?—“

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but know I’m here if you ever want to talk.”

Alice sighs and nods, her eyes moving all over my face. “Maybe one day. Until then, go check on your boyfriend. Make sure he puts some makeup on that black eye, otherwise Mom might freak out and spend all of Thanksgiving fussing over him.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” I ask.

“I guess not. I’m gonna go to sleep for another hour at least before I attempt to get ready for the day.”

She slips back into the apartment and I unlock the door to Ash’s. The place is quiet and it looks the same as it did the last time I was here, except it’s cleaner. There are no dirty dishes around and no clothes thrown all over the living room floor. I make my way to the bedroom and find Ash sprawled out in the middle of the bed, sleeping face down wearing nothing but his boxers. Even though it’s not that warm in the room, I know he runs hot at night, which is why the sheets are tangled at his feet. I smile and slowly drop my backpack.

I slip off my jeans and my sweatshirt and kneel tentatively on the mattress next to him. Does he want me here? He said he had a lot on his mind, but did that include me as well? Before I can second guess all my choices, I lie down next to him and wrap an arm around him. He’s facing me, eyes closed and his right armtucked under the pillow, clutching it. My fingers gently trace his shoulders and upper back and I place a kiss on his bicep.

While heat radiates off of Ash, I am cold as hell, so I reach down and untangle the sheets from his feet, pulling them over the both of us. The movement makes Ash turn on his side, facing away from me, which works out great because it gives me the perfect position to spoon him. I bury my face between his neck and the pillow and I press myself tighter against him, relishing the feel of him in my arms again. One of my legs slides between his and my arm holds him close, hand splayed against his heart.

It doesn’t take long for sleep to pull me under, and the last thing on my mind is thatfinally, I’m home.

Ash

My alarm goesoff and pulls me out of my deep sleep. I was dreaming about Eli being here with me and hugging me, telling me he was home. But that can’t be right. He’s going to be in Detroit for another two months, at least.

I try to reach for my phone but something around my middle stops me. I blink wearily down at the arm around me and screw my eyes shut tight.

No, no, no.

I didn’t bring someone else home, I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t even drink last night, so why the hell is my memory so foggy? My head is pounding, but that’s probably just from the fight.

The arm hugs me tighter and my bleary mind thinks that maybe it is Eli, that he snuck in here in the middle of the night just to spend some time with me. I slide out from under the heavy arm and reach for my phone on the nightstand, silencing the alarm.

Panic takes over when I see a bunch of missed calls and texts from Eli and my stomach drops. Did something happen?

A hand reaches over and flips my phone over and I whip my head around, ready to yell at whoever is in my bed.

“Kultsi, come back here,” Eli says in a deep, sleepy voice.

I blink down at him a few times, not believing that he’s actually here. His pale blue eyes meet mine and for a second I think I stop breathing. My hand reaches out and pinches his cheek and he groans and grabs my wrist.

“Again with the pinching? I told you, you’re supposed to pinch yourself, not me.”

“Making sure you’re really here.” I swallow and smile down at him. “I thought?—”

“You thought what?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head, embarrassed of my own thoughts. “I’m happy you’re here,” I say, bending down to kiss him. He lets go of my wrist and cups my face, running his hand over my jaw. When his kiss turns pressing, I wince and pull back slightly. My split lip hurts like a motherfucker.

Eli runs his finger over it, then moves over my left eye where I most likely have a massive bruise. He grimaces and pulls me down in a hug. “Are you okay,kultsi?”

I sigh and hide my face between his neck and shoulder. “Better now.”

“Do you want to talk about the fight last night? Or about Nadison getting hurt and what that means for us?”

“How long are you here for?” I mumble against his skin.

“I have to drive back Saturday morning for an early skate and the home game.”

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