Page 53 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
I fire off the text, and not a second later, a photo comes through.
Baywatch: That’s her friend. Are you sure you don’t want to see, at least if you’re feelin’ it?
I stare at the photo of a tall brunette sitting on a boat. Her smile is wide, and she looks friendly. She’s pretty, but she’s not Lina.
Me: She’s hot but not my type. Good lookin’ out, man, but I’m okay at the moment.
Then my muscles tense, realizing what is happening rightnow. I’m lying in bed with a woman I’m into while her dad—my best friend, is texting about setting me up with someone else.This is a strange and fucked up situation.
I need to blow off his texts before things get weirder. Brian texts me a few more times, but I don’t answer them.
The travel from the last few days catches up to me, and I start to doze off. But every time Lina makes a move or sound, I startle awake. Her fever rose again at one point in the middle of the night. Handling it quickly, I gave her another round of Tylenol, and she eventually fell back asleep.
After that, resting is no longer an option for me because I’ve become obsessed with counting each one of her tiny breaths.
Another unclear amount of time passes as I drift in and out of twilight sleep.
Lina lets out a soft moan, alerting me that she’s woken up again. I’m now lying on my back with my head on her pillow, but she stirs underneath the crook of my arm.
“How are you doing?” I rub her damp forehead.
Tucking herself into a ball, she lightly shivers. “I think my fever is going down, but now I’m cold.” She curls into me. “And a little hungry.”
I pull up the comforter to cover her arms. “Do you have soup here?”
“We have some tomato soup in the pantry.” Her voice cracks.
I cup my hands under her head. “I’ll make some for you,” I say, gently moving her from on top of my legs.
“You’re leaving?” She looks up at me pitifully. If I had my way, I’d never fucking leave.
I kneel onto her bed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back. I’mgoing to make you something to eat.”
“Okay.” Lina smiles, then her eyes fall closed again. I let myself take in her perfection. I press my lips on her forehead, kissing her deeply. She breathes out a heavy sigh. Then, her muscles visibly relax back into the mattress.
When I get back downstairs, Zoe is no longer on the couch. Did she leave or go to bed? I searched the kitchen cupboards until I found a pot and the tomato soup. Everything in her kitchen is organized with little labels. It’s fucking adorable.
Before long, I’m back upstairs with a tray of tomato soup and crackers. When Lina sees me walk through her bedroom door, she slowly sits up.
“I look like shit right now, don’t I?” She bashfully tucks a group of tangled hairs behind her ear.
“You’re always beautiful, Lina,” I say, setting the tray on the bed in front of her. She is everything in my eyes. Nothing she could do, say, or even look like would ever change that.
“Thanks,” she says, reaching for the spoon. “You don’t have to stay. It really is okay.”
Is she embarrassed by asking me to stay? Or was that request only brought up in that heated moment in the bathroom? I don’t care which it is. I’m not leaving.
“I said I would stay. I’m going to.”
Lina and I are stuck in each other’s orbit, trapped by an energy that I don’t understand—I can only feel.
Chapter Sixteen
Lina
Iwoke up in the middle of the night, covered in a puddle of sweat. Carter and I assumed that my fever had finally broken. By the time morning arrived, I was feeling better. The bright sun shined through the slits in the shutters and warmed my face as I rolled over, half expecting Carter to still be in my bed, but he wasn’t.
On the other side of the bed, on top of my nightstand, was a beautiful bouquet of two dozen white roses. A smile stretched from one corner of my face to the other. A flurry of butterflies filled my stomach.He knew white roses were my favorite.
