Page 18 of The Forever After Bet

“Yeah, I have homework.”

“You’ve been doing homework all day. I’ve hardly seen you.” He tugs on my arm. “Watch the game with us, please.”

“Hank, I can’t.” Saying that breaks my heart, but I can’t hang out down here with Ford. I notice Jack whisper something to Scottie. When he’s done, Scott runs over, grabbing my other arm.

“Please, Hanny, please.” Hank and Scottie tug on my arms, dragging me into the middle of the room where they’ve been sitting.

“Fine, I’ll watch with you for one inning, then I have to finish some homework.”

Ford coughs behind me. I turn and look, and he’s taking a drink of water.

“It’s called a quarter, Clark.” Ty smirks at me. “But I think you knew that.”

I give him a half smile and a shrug. Of course, I know it’s called a quarter. I did it to get a rise out of Ford, and it worked. I shouldn’t have, but I don’t regret it. We sit propped up against the far side of the sofa. Scottie sits on one side of me, and Hank lays between my legs. Ford gets up to get another cookie and when he comes back he sits behind me instead of the other end of the sofa, where he’d been sitting. My whole body tingles knowing he is this close to me. I try to concentrate on the game, but it’s useless. My sole focus is on Ford. Every move he makes, the sound of his breathing, the tenor of his voice when he talks to Jack or Ty. After a while, my body relaxes. I lean my head against the sofa. A few minutes later, I feel Ford’s fingers in my hair by the nap of my neck, so no one can see what he’s doing. I bite my lip to keep from moaning at the feeling. I close my eyes, relishing the feeling.

“Hanny, wake up,” Hank says, shaking me.

“Huh?” I sit up, looking around. The tv is off, and everyone is gone. All the lights are off except for the dim theater lights above the tv.

“You fell asleep. You missed the entire game.”

“Oh, sorry, buddy. Did your team win?” I ask, yawning.

“Yeah, it was boring. They beat the pants off the other team.” Hank smiles. He’s in his pajamas. I glance at the wall clock and realize I’ve been asleep for over two hours.

“Are you headed to bed?”

“Yeah, Dad told me to come down and wake you up.”

“Thanks, bud.” I hold out my arms. “Can I have a goodnight hug?”

“Yep.” He throws his arms around me, squeezing tight. “Thanks for hanging out with me.”

“Anything for you; I love you.”

“I love you too.” My dad calls Hank’s name from upstairs. “I gotta go,” he says, dashing up the stairs.

I stand up, stretching out my back and neck.

“Oh, sorry.” I spin around to find Ford standing at the start of the hall. “I heard footsteps head upstairs, and I thought it was you.”

“That was Hank saying goodnight.” I scrunch my forehead. “Are you all hanging out in Jack’s room?”

“Yeah, we didn’t want to wake you, so we set up the Xbox to his tv.”

“Oh, thanks, that was nice of you.”

This is the most Ford, and I have talked since that awful night. It’s too much. I turn away from him and head toward the stairs. He’s faster and cuts me off. I turn so my back is to the stairs.

“Hannah.” Ford raises his hand to touch my face, but he stops, balling it into a fist at the last second. He has a pained look on his face. I’ve felt that same pain over the last two weeks, and it makes my stomach roll thinking that Ford feels it too. I want to take his pain away, but I don’t know how because I’m the one who caused it. He takes a step closer to me, bringing his hand up again. He twists one of my blonde curls around his finger. He tips his face down to mine.

“Hannah,” he whispers over my lips.

My entire body is on fire. I need to push him away, but that will only make the pain worse. A little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to give in and not to think. It’s time to embrace it.

“Ford,” I breathe, throwing my arms around his neck and crushing my lips to his.

10. Permanent Ink

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