Page 42 of Sweet Surrender
Since the revelations and apologies yesterday morning, which seemed like so long ago, she felt her resentment towards him already easing. She felt lighter and a fraction—but only a fraction—less rage-filled than usual.
Then he had to go and take care of her last night, making her dinner; immediately her walls began to crumble like someone had taken a wrecking ball to them. The care he’d shown reminded her of how they had once been together, the bond they’d shared. She needed to refortify. She had built those walls for a damn good reason. She didn’t want to slip back into old feelings. She could already feel the fire rekindling but she had learned from her mistakes, she knew this fire came with pain.
The bathroom door opened and he stepped out, steam billowing behind him like from a movie scene. His hair damp from his shower but annoyingly, uh,thankfullyhe was fully clothed. Most men with the kind of Adonis body that Beau had would have been walking around shirtless, all their muscles on display. So why wasn’t Beau?Why didn’t he walk around shirtless, dammit!
“Morning,” she said, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
“Morning,” he grunted and turned his back, rummaging in the dresser.
She took in the rigid set of his shoulders. “Everything okay?”
“Mhm.”
“Sleep well for your first night?”
He turned and faced her. “No.”
“Oh really? Was the bed not comfortable? Was it the pillow fort? Maybe we don’t need it?”
“No, let’s keep it in place,” he answered quickly and then disappeared out of the room.
What’s crawled up his butt?Maybe he’s not a morning person after all. She heard him filling the kettle with water. Maybe he’s regretting the living arrangements. She frowned, her anger spiking.Well, it was his bright idea, I didn’t want it to happen so if he’s not happy he’s only himself to blame.She lay back against her pillows, worrying. Ugh, since when did she worry about him? Her eyes swept the room before landing on the dresser. Her body jolted as she took in the new addition. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and grabbed the photo, peering down at it.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, stroking a finger over the picture. It was an old photo of her and Beau on Halloween. He’d dressed up as Chewbacca and she was Batgirl. They had their arms around each other, grinning like idiots. She remembered that night, the two of them had gone trick-or-treating together, ending up at Ruby’s Diner. They had split a slice of cookie dough cheesecake while counting out their treats and swapping each other for their favorites. He liked chocolate, she liked candy, the perfect Yin and Yang.
It wasn’t long after that they’d had their big fight. Taylor stilled herself for the anger that usually followed when she took this particular trip down memory lane, but it didn’t come. She stared at the photo, amazed at how retro it looked. Ruby had taken it on one of those disposable cameras that Beau had taken out that night, wanting to make memories.
She heard him banging around in the kitchen and stood in her bedroom doorway, staring at his back as he measured out protein powder into a bottle.
“How long have you had this?” she asked softly.
His back stiffened and the powder spilled over the counter then he turned to face her.
“Since the day after Halloween. I got all the photos developed the next day.”
“Were there more?”
“No, they were too overexposed, too blurry. That was the only one that survived.”
She peered down at the photo again, stroking her finger over the image of the two of them, so happy. He kept the photo all this time?The man was tying her in knots she didn’t know how to untangle. He came over to her now and tried to take the frame.
“It’s stupid. I thought if Dale was peering in windows and saw it then he would realize how long we’ve known each other. How close we are. Were,” he corrected. “I’ll put it away.”
“No!” she cried, keeping a firm grip on the frame. “Leave it, it was a good idea.”
They stared at each other, both gripping the frame. Then he gave her a clipped nod and let go, heading back into the kitchen. She swallowed and went back into the bedroom, replacing the frame.
“I’ve got an early PT session; will you be okay while I’m gone?” he called. She padded back over to the doorway, watching him move around her little cabin like he’d been there forever. So natural in her space.
“Yeah, Kayleigh’s still out sick so I need to head over soon and open up, maybe try and do some paperwork before the masses descend.”
“Cool, I’ll get us some food in as well,” he said, stuffing a zip-up hoodie in his backpack and grabbing his protein shake.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said, feeling guilty about her lack of food. She never cooked for herself, it was too boring and depressing.
“Actually, I do,” he replied, patting his stomach. His t-shirt molded obscenely to the eight-pack she could see.Trust him to be so disciplined to have the extra two-pack.
“Okay, well thanks then.”
