Page 577 of One More Kiss

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m no stranger to nightmares. Do you want to talk about it?”

She shakes her head. “No…it’s OK.” I reach over to the nightstand and grab an unopened bottle of water, handing it to her. “Here, take a sip. It always helps me.”

She takes the water and drinks from it. “Thank you.”

I nod. “You sure you’re OK. That sounded like a really bad one.” I think I heard someone call them night terrors once, a teacher in my high school that I had confided in. She was trying to talk to my dad. It pissed me off, and after that, I clammed up and wouldn’t talk to anyone about my feelings, not even Ginger.

“It…I have the same one, but it’s been a few years. I guess with everything yesterday…” She trails off as she puts the top back on the water and sets it down. She looks out the window. “We should get back to sleep.”

I see her tremble. Fuck. I can’t have that. I can’t watch her suffer like this. It might just have been a dream but that haunted look in her eyes tells me it is so much more than that. “Come here,” I finally say as I open my arms.

She looks at me and I can see she’s unsure. “I swear I won’t bite. I…just know what it’s like to be strong but still need…someone to understand,” I offer.

Slowly, she scoots over and leans into my chest. I wrap my arms around her as she lays her head on my chest. I begin stroking her soft hair.

“I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know it must have been hellish,” I say.

“It sounds like you’ve been to hell, too,” she replies.

“Once upon a time, some pretty shitty things happened in my life,” I explain. “Shitty things that even other adults can’t understand. It…makes for a bit of a lonely life experience.”

She huffs. “Tell me about it.”

And just like that, I fall a little for her, just a little, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

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