Page 77 of Crystal Iris
“This is insane.”
“I won’t break.”
“Can you at least let me put a few blankets down?”
He helps me put layers of blankets, sheets, and pillows on the floor.
“I won’t take offense if you want to go to a hotel,” I say, handing him another pillow.
“I don’t want to leave.”
“I don’t want you to leave.” I say it without taking my eyes off him.
He takes another sip of his drink.
“Good, ’cause I’m not going anywhere.”
We are lying down, me in bed and him on the floor next to me, when I turn off my bedside lamp.
“What are we doing, Hoyt?” I ask the question we are both wondering.
“The more I think about not being able to touch you, the more I want to, Iris.” I love how he uses my name.
“What if we can’t?”
“Then, like a moth, I will burn every day trying.”
Eighteen
“You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat.” – Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Ilay awake, listening to Hoyt sleep. My body aches every time he moves around. We are so close, yetso far away.
When I open my eyes again, it’s daylight. And he’s gone.
I check my phone—no messages. I don’t have time to wonder where he went. I have to get ready for work. I’m getting out of the shower when I hear the front door. I didn’t think he was coming back. He walks to the bedroom, not realizing that all I’m wearing is a towel.
“I got coffee,” he says, putting the cup down on my dresser before looking my way.
“Thank you,” I say, standing there, waiting for him to turn around. When he finally does, his eyes lock on mine. My prism glows.
“Sorry,” he says, walking away to the living room.
I get dressed and find him reading a book of mine while sipping his coffee.
“I have to go to work, but stay as long as you want. You can leave my keys with the doorman,” I tell him while packing my bag.
“I’m going to Aaron’s office today,” he says.
“What?” I almost spit out mycoffee.
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t. Hoyt, you’re only going to piss him off even more.”
“It’s a lot of money, Iris. I need to make sure he’s being... professional.”
“Would you, if you were him?”
