Page 40 of The Bright Side of Brooding
“I can help you.”
“Of course youcan. But I’ve got it tonight.”
Her lips flattened. “It’ll be done so much faster if you let me help.”
I raised a brow, the irony of her pressing me to let her help clean up glaring between us.
She made a regretful sound. “I know. I get it. But I let you help, so you can let me.”
We stared at each other for another moment, and though all hadn’t returned to how things were before, this back and forth felt a little more familiar. It should’ve set me at ease, but instead, I found my pulse ticking up to race. I blinked away from the trance she’d set me in and focused on the task. I wanted rest tonight too.
We worked without speaking, and in less than ten minutes, we’d washed all the dishes, wiped the counters, and I’d checked the food we’d take with us tomorrow. And then we were walking down the hallway to our rooms. Words collided in my throat but wouldn’t come out. I made an odd, mangled sound.
She turned to me, worry creasing her brow. What an idiot—rather than speaking to her, I’d loosed a garbled, pained sound, and she probably thought I was dying.
I cleared my throat.
“Sorry. I just…” Nerves crawled around my belly, making me mildly nauseated. “I wanted to say you shouldn’t worry about… your fitness. You know. Like you were saying earlier.”
“Oh. Okay. I’m notworried, I’m just—”
“You’re perfect.
Her mouth hung open, her shock evident. I could understand. I felt the same way—I hadn’t planned on saying that aloud.
“I—I mean you shouldn’t think anything about yourself except kind thoughts. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in appearances at these things. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it sooner.”
The dim hallway light hid the full color of her face, but her cheeks looked darker. I’d embarrassed her.Perfect.
“I’ll let you get to bed. See you in the morning.”
And with that, I ducked into my room, cursing my stupid mouth for shooting off in the moment.Thiswas why I didn’t speak much. This was why I wrote letters when it mattered. As was my habit, I sat down to journal and prayed I wouldn’t find Summer standing outside in the hallway come morning, still stunned in place.
