Page 23 of Dryad, Try Again
“So polite,” she says, throwing me a not-so-subtle heated glance. I can almost hear her say, “And handsome” with her eyes.
After Aunt Hannah cleans up,she insists on a nap, and I get to work on making lunch. To my pleasant surprise, Kovi joins me. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I want to,” he replies, pulling out pots and pans. “You gotta eat, obviously.”
This boy continues to make my heart race for all sorts of reasons. “That’s very sweet of you,” I murmur. We share a cordial smile before we make quick work of pulling out ingredients to prepare a tiny lunch. Sandwiches have been a staple in my life, but Kovi doesn’t seem to mind. I chat about Aunt Hannah’s asthma diagnosis, and Kovi is a great listener. After eating the humble meal, he helps me clear the table.
“You’re a life saver,” I say, washing the dishes.
“Please,” he replies. “You needed your books, so I’m here.”
“You drove here?”
He winces. “I uh…walked.”
“Walked?!”
“It’s, um, easy for me to take a shortcut through the trees.”
Right, monster powers. “Oh, of course.”
With the chores done, we take a seat on the couch. Tanner takes out the books and my mind goes fuzzy. “Thank you for…” The very thought of studying makes me let out a dramatic yawn. “For bringing this.”
“Did you sleep last night?”
I rub my eyes. “It was hard to…in the hospital waiting room.” I yawn again. “I was so worried about Aunt Hannah.”
“Go to bed.” He pulls me up and I don’t have the strength to fight back. The bread in the sandwiches is like an express ticket to dreamland, and my eyelids are getting heavy.
“But…you’re our guest.” I yawn again, putty with his hands on my shoulders.Such strong hands…
“I can study while I wait for you to wake up. You’re no good for anyone without lucidity.”
“That’s true.” We make it to my bedroom and, on instinct, I drop my jeans. “You’re so smart, Kove.”
I don’t know what I’m muttering while I crawl under the comforter. “Uh…g-g-get some rest,” he says. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say his voice is strained. But I’m ninety-percent asleep right now, so I don’t know what’s right and what’s left.
When my eyelids shut, the last thing I remember is saying, “I’m so lucky to have you…”
Hours later,I finish showering and saunter down the hall. The happy chattering of Kovi and Aunt Hannah beckon me into the living room. I barely remember anything after lunch—did Kovi see me in my boxers? —but everything seems in order. Leaning on the wall, I spy the most important person in my life becoming friendly with a guy I’m growing alarmingly close to. A piece of my heart takes a snapshot, wishing to revel in this memory.
I never thought my nightmare monster, my first kiss, would get along so well with my one family member.
“And this is him in elementary school,” Aunt Hannah says. When I notice they’re pouring over old photo albums, I swiftly make my presence known. No one wants their crush to see embarrassing photos of them as an awkward kid.
“Hey, what are you two up to?” I ask with a nervous chuckle.
“Just showing your friend here old pictures of you.”
“You were so adorable,” he gushes.
My cheeks burn. “Oh, that’s…you don’t want to see any of that.” I snatch the other books on the coffee table and quickly put them away.
“Nonsense,” Aunt Hannah retorts, flipping through the pages of one big album between them. “Entertaining him is the least I can do for all the help he’s done.”
“It was really no trouble,” he says, glancing between us.
“You came all the way here to bring my Tanner his books.” Aunt Hannah looks up at me. “Isn’t he so sweet?”
