Page 20 of The Interception
Well, thank goodness for that.
“Now, let’s get you some headache medicine and off to bed,” she adds.
“I think I can handle it from here, sis,” Ender says with an edge to his tone. “You should take your own advice and get to bed.” He hands her a bag. “Lula’s medicine. Even sick, you know Lula will be up early, and you’ll regret another late night.” Frustration edges his tone, putting tension between them even I can feel.
Something else passes between them, a look of understanding, but deeper than that. He raises an eyebrow and she nods.
“Night, Ender,” she whispers. “Night, Layne. I’ll set some things out for you to wear in the morning.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She’s down the hallway before I even finish my sentence, and I can’t help feeling Ender was a bit of a bully. Or a stern father. I can’t decide, but it’s also none of my business, so I don’t say anything. I stand in the entryway and wait for him to do something. Say something. Anything at all besides staring after his sister until she shuts her bedroom door. He breathes out a deep sigh and returns his attention to me.
“Listen, I need you to know a little background here before you stay.” Ender ruffles his hair and grasps my elbow, leading me down a hallway in the opposite direction. At this point, I realize how massive his house actually is. It haswingsfor crying out loud.
“Okay,” I say with some hesitation.
He pauses in the hallway and turns to face me. “Sarah Beth is grieving. Her husband died a few months ago, and she sometimes stays up way too late watching romcoms and reminiscing. It’s not really my place to say even that much, but she can be…not clingy but…” He winces as if he’s half apologizing and half defending his sister. It pains him. It’s easy to see that in his body language.
I brush my fingers over his arm to get his attention. He freezes and looks down at me, his dark eyes laser-focused on my face. “Hey, it’s okay. Grief does weird things to people. It’ll be fine. I can handle a grieving woman who needs attention to distract her from her heartbreak. I promise. It’ll be all good.”
Ender doesn’t say anything. Other than the soft rise and fall of his shoulders when he breathes, he doesn’t move. Something like tension builds between us, something filled withanticipation and nervous energy, but without any sort of clear definition as to why. Or how to soothe it away.
I want to focus on him alone. Give him the attention this moment needs, though I can’t define why I feel this way either. Maybe things have been hard for him too? Losing his brother-in-law could be as difficult as losing a blood-related sibling. And to see his sister in so much pain? Heartbreaking. A niece? Even more so. Emotion floods my chest and swells until tears prickle in my eyes. Thank goodness it’s dark in the hallway and he probably can’t tell.
His lips part and a small huff of breath warms my face. “She’s…lost.” His simple admission almost breaks me. All the love he has for his family is packed into those two words. It’s written in the angst on his face, the stiffness in his frame as he speaks.
I nod. “It’s okay. I can handle lost.”
He purses his lips and closes his eyes. “She’s going to ask you a million questions in the morning. Please don’t…don’t think she’s weird or…I don’t know how to explain what I mean.”
“Ender, it’s okay. I mean it. She can talk me half to death, and it will be fine. We’ll make breakfast, watch a romcom, cry together, and when you get home, we’ll work on stuff for the next round. Contrary to what you might think about me, I’m pretty weird. I can handle a woman needing distraction.”
Ender laughs and the sparkle returns to his eyes. “I wouldn’t say you’re weird. Different, maybe. You have some unusual traits about you, but that’s not weird.”
“I fell asleep in your truck.”
“That isn’t weird. It’s…endearing.” He leans his back against the wall, indicating we might be here talking for a minute. Despite my headache, which is actually beginning to wane, I find I want to talk with him, so I lean opposite him. My back barelyhits the wall and he grasps my wrist to pull me forward. He wraps his arms around me in a crushing hug.
There’s no way around it. His hug? World’s absolute best. It’s all-encompassing, warm, safe, and even a little desperate. He needs this. Needs affection from someone who won’t judge him—a big, strong football player—for wanting to feel safe and secure. I wrap my arms around his waist and let him draw me in close.
Several breaths pass before he releases me. “I needed that, but I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to grab you that way.”
My arms are still linked around his waist, and his around my shoulders. “You don’t have to apologize for needing to be comforted. I’m sure it’s hard being a safe place for your sister and niece right now, but I’m here for you.”
His eyes soften further and a sneaky smirk tugs at his lips. “Are you? Are we friends now?”
“Don’t push your luck, Langley,” I tease.
“Am I at least forgiven for being a jerk when we met?”
I roll my eyes in mock annoyance. “Sure, why not?” He chuckles and lowers his hands to my waist, still holding fast to me. “But yes, we’re friends.”
Ender’s thumb runs slow circles on my lower back, encouraging me to move in close again. My brain fogs over and a deep need fills my heart for another one of his hugs.
“I’m glad for that,” he says, but his voice catches. It takes me by surprise, so much so, that I yank my head up to make eye contact with him. His eyes glisten. His jaw is clenched. He’s holding back tears, but a stray one slips free. He doesn’t even try to stop it.
“Ender,” I whisper. Without thought, I run my hands up his arms and link them behind his neck to pull him into another hug. He buries his face in my shoulder and breathes deeply. The tension leaves his shoulders with each breath until he’s relaxed.Minutes pass while we hold each other. We hardly know one another, and yet, this feels like something we’ve done before. It’s so familiar and comfortable, I almost drift off to sleep here in his arms.
