Page 27 of Revelry
I followed her stare. There were fewer branches now and you could see the stars through them, the moon hovering andlighting up the world. I finally managed to catch my breath and began to have a mild panic attack about being so high.
“Breathe,” Gertrude whispered, placing a hand on my thigh.
“I haven’t done this for a long time,” I rushed out.
“I know,” she whispered. “Doesn’t it feel incredible?”
I analyzed all the crazy thoughts running through my brain, the adrenaline surging in my veins and the high that was buzzing along right behind it. I hated to admit it, but she was right.
I looked over and found her smiling at me but there was a tightness to her smile, it wasn’t as wide as normal. I remembered what she’d said earlier.
“Not everything is about me,” I said, flexing my grip on the tree trunk.
“No, it’s not.”
“So what’s got you drinking and climbing trees again?”
She winked at me, a little sloppy but kinda adorable. “Fun.”
“Other than fun?”
She looked away, picking at the bark beside her, swinging her legs in a way that gave me heart palpitations and had the branch creaking. “My divorce came through today.”
Ah.“Is it congratulations or commiserations?”
She shrugged. “Both?”
“I would say, judging by the condition you turned up at Redemption in, it’s congratulations.” My pulse pounded at the reminder of her bruised face, and I clenched my fists tight, pulling a deep breath in through my nose.
“Congratulations for sure. But it’s a shit feeling when you fail.”
I nudged her gently. “You haven’t failed, sugar. You got out of a bad situation, that’s never a failing.”
She turned those indigo eyes on me, even in the dull light they sparkled brighter than the stars. “But I have nothing. No house, no job, nothing.”
“You can start again. Maybe give tree climbing lessons?”
She snorted and hiccupped. “Did you just make a joke?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe.”
“I didn’t think you had it in you.” She nudged me. I teetered forward and I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes.
“Uh, do you think we could have this conversation on solid ground?”
She clicked her tongue. “Too much fun for one day?”
“Too much fun for a hundred days,” I replied.
“In a minute, I wanna watch the stars some more.” She leaned her head against my shoulder, her corkscrew black curls spreading over my chest and the berries and cream scent snaked into my nostrils. My eyes slid closed, my heart pounding and I almost started salivating. It was only then that I realized her hand had been on my thigh the entire time.
We sat in silence, some crickets chirped lower down. The branches rustled in the breeze and after a moment I heard a light snoring.
“Are you sleeping right now?” I asked, horrified that she could fall asleep in such a terrifying and precarious position.
“Wha—huh?” she snorted.
“Okay, enough revelry for one day,” I grumbled and shimmied over towards the thick trunk to begin a descent that terrified me.
