Page 575 of One More Kiss

I chuckle. “It’s OK. I mean, if anything, it’ll make for a good story to tell Rylin. Like, hey, I went to scatter Dad’s ashes and then got sprayed by someone else’s ashes.”

He chuckles. “Damn, that’s dark.”

I laugh. “I suppose it is, but if you can’t laugh…” I trail off not wanting to finish my thought.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” he says quietly.

“It’s alright. It was a while ago. I just haven’t had the right moment to come here before now,” I explain.

“Same for me. Why’d you choose the castle?” he asks. I hear him roll again and I glance down to see him looking back up at me.

I roll to my side and gaze down at him. “We went there on a family vacation a long time ago. It’s the last happy family memory that I have. My parents divorced soon after that, and…then my dad died.”

“I’m sorry,” he says as his eyes search mine.

“How about you?”

“Hamlet was filmed there. And watching that movie together was the last time I saw my parents truly happy before my mom died. She had cancer, and then my dad died later. I just felt it was a good place to leave them.”

“I’m sorry. That’s gotta be tough, both of your parents,” I say.

He shrugs. “It’s been a long while, but…grief is weird, isn’t it?”

I smile sadly at him. “Yeah, it is. People always say…”

“It gets better with time,” we both state together. I see something flash in his eyes, and I feel a connection to him at that moment that I’ve never felt with another person.

I clear my throat. “Yeah, well, it’s not true.”

He nods his understanding. “No, it’s not.”

“I don’t think about it every day now, but when I do…” I trail off.

“It’s just as raw as always?” he finishes my thought.

I nod. “Yeah.”

I turn on my side away from him. I feel bad that he’s sleeping on the floor.

“Rexton?”

“Yes?”

I sigh. “It’s a king-sized bed. There’s seriously a ton of room up here.”

“It’s OK.”

“I feel bad. You already agreed to share the room. Just…sleep up here next to me. I promise I won’t bite…hard.”

He chuckles. “Only if you promise.”

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