Page 60 of The Hearts We've Broken
“I need to take a shower. I probably stink.”
I chuckled to myself, thinking it wasn’t that bad all things considered. “I’ll be here.”
I’d scrolled on my phone for about twenty minutes when Mikey stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and water rolling down the planes of his chest. His hair was damp and spiky, as though he’d scrubbed his head with a towel.
My eyes may have wandered to the V-line just above his hips, under the guise that I was still looking at my phone. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was being subtle enough about it, because right before he disappeared into the bedroom, he shot me a wink.
In the time it took for him to get dressed, I pulled out the couch and started to make the bed, thinking the wholetime that this was the last night Mikey and I had to pretend to be together, at least for a while.
Mikey walked out in a pair of athletic shorts and a fitted cotton T-shirt and plopped down on the couch, disrupting my process of putting on the sheets.
“Hey!”
“Whoops, sorry.” He rolled off, and helped me finish what I was doing. Then he gently lay down on top of the sheets.
I crawled on the other side of the makeshift bed, propping myself up on the pillows.
“I was scared for you tonight,” I murmured, turning my head toward his.
“I was scared, too.”
I couldn’t lie, the admission threw me off.
“Those eight seconds feel like forever, but somehow what happens after those eight seconds makes the ride feel like a blur. Especially in cases like tonight. I’m not going to lie, worst-case scenarios flooded my mind after the fact, and I realized how lucky I had been. Especially with the rain and the mud…” His voice trailed off, and I wondered what exactly he had thought about.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
His eyes bore into mine as his hand lightly skimmed my cheek until his fingers were under my chin. My brain screamed for him to stop before lines were crossed, but my heart was fighting back, hoping that he’d kiss me, even though there was no reason for him to. Unlike in Houston, this time we didn’t have an excuse to fake hooking up.
No one was outside the trailer.
Not in the rain.
He cleared his throat, retreating and putting distancebetween us. “We’ve got an early morning. We should both probably get to bed.”
I nodded. “You’re right. Sleep is…good.”
“Yeah. Well, goodnight, then.” He hesitated before he got up, heading to the bedroom.
“Goodnight,” I replied before rolling over to face the opposite side of the trailer.
I heard the soft thud of him getting in bed. The dim light in the bedroom area flicked off, leaving us in darkness with only the light rumble of the air conditioner running and the soft pitter patter of rain hitting the roof. I closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep quickly.
“June?”
For a moment, I questioned if I was imagining things or if my name was actually being called. Mikey spoke so quietly, the word was hardly audible even with the short distance between the bed and the couch.
“Yeah?”
“Will you lay with me?” His voice cracked in the silence. Gone was the lighthearted, animated man I’d come to know over the last couple months. Tonight, that man was replaced by a softer one. “Please. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Yeah.”
I slid out from under the covers, the fabric rustling under me. I tiptoed across the wood panel flooring to the steps leading up to the bed. The moment I crawled under the covers and the comforter, he pulled me close until my back was flush with his chest. His warmth enveloped my body, drawing me into an embrace.
Within seconds, his snores filled the space, and sleep overtook me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
