Page 66 of Infatuated as They Come
“You and Jay could be the same person, you know? You both work too hard.”
I laughed, moving out of the break room before my aching legs could convince me to stay back a little bit longer. I liked my job. I liked Jay andAudrey and everyone else, and I wished that was enough to stop me from feeling so damn tired. If I tried hard enough, I could just imagine the pain away and pretend I was back home with Holly, painting her as she posed for me.
Holly was worth every ache I felt.
* * *
When I got home that night and saw Holly on the couch, I felt guilt replace any of that pain I had been experiencing. She was lying on the couch, hands tucked under her head as her half-lidded eyes moved from the TV to me.
“Hi,” she mumbled.
“Hey, honey,” I said, tossing my bag to the floor. I made my way to her, kneeling in front of the couch, my fingers stroking some strands of hair out of her face. “You didn’t have to stay up and wait for me.”
“It’s okay. It’s not that late.”
But it was just after ten and it was obvious that she was tired from her day too, and the big pile of books around her told me she had been reading all night. “Why didn’t you go to bed?”
“I missed you. I wanted to see you and talk to you, and now you’re finally here,” she said, a slow, lazy smile spreading across her face. “I waited all day to see you.”
Guilt squeezed at my heart, like nails digging into me. “Yeah, baby? I was waiting all day to see you too. You know how hard it is to go all day without you?”
She hummed softly, my fingers still combing through her hair. “It can’t be that hard…”
“It is. It’s impossible. But now I get to look at you. It’s worth it in the end,” I murmured. “Very, very worth it.”
“Are you hungry?”
I was, but I didn’t want her to worry about me. “I’ll eat something quick after I shower. Why don’t you go to sleep?”
“You don’t want to talk to me or something?”
“No, I do. But I can tell that you’re tired, and by the looks of all these books, it looks like you’ve been reading all night. Your eyes are probably all sore.”
“No, they’re not. And I’m not tired.” But then she let out the cutest, softest sounding yawn.
I chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Sounds like you’re tired. Let’s get you to bed. I’ll clean all your books up for you.”
“Wait, no,” she said softly.
But I already had her in my arms and moved her away from the couch and into the bedroom, getting her all settled under the blankets. “There, that’s better.”
“I got us bread, by the way,” she whispered.
“Normal people bread? Or rich people bread?”
Her eyes brightened a tiny bit. “Bread from the bakery. And I did not get swindled.”
“I meant what I said. Gonna have to give you a lesson in not getting ripped off.”
“That sounds fun. Let’s do that.”
“Get some rest, okay?” I kissed her cheek, her skin soft and smooth against my lips. I missed that. God, I missed her.
“Guess what happened at cheer practice today? Claudia said she’s gonna let me help with the choreography for next week’s game.”
“Yeah?” I sent her a smile. “Wait, are you takin’ over as head cheerleader again?”
“No, nothing like that. Just helping with the routine. But it’d…” She yawned again. “It would mean a lot if you came and watched. Will you come watch?”
