Page 14 of In Their Hearts
The words land more heavily than they should.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because I don’t know how to exist in places where people are… kind.” She gestures vaguely with the folded paper. “Or where things feel complicated.”
I exhale slowly. “Funny. I was thinking the opposite, that you shouldn’t be alone. Not right now and not with the worry in your eyes.”
Her fingers tighten around the letter again. “This is my mess.”
“Maybe,” I say. “But you don’t have to stand in it by yourself.” I place my hand lightly on her free hand. Offering her what I hope she can accept.
For minutes, neither of us moves. The house hums softly around us. The heat kicks on, water running down the hall. Life continues, indifferent. Jo just stares down at my hand on hers.
She finally sets the letter down on the counter, but doesn’t throw it away. Just… let's it be.
“I don’t know how long I can keep pretending,” she admits, voice barely above a whisper.
Something settles in my chest at that. Strong. Determined.
“Then don’t,” I say. “You don’t have to pretend here, not with me.”
She nods once. Not in agreement. Not a refusal either. Just acknowledgment.
And for now, that’s enough.
Dinner passes by in a blink. Grant is carrying on most of the conversation and keeping things light. He knows something happened, but I haven’t had a chance to fill him in yet.
And now it’s time for bed. Well, an attempt at sleeping, because I’m half worried and half horny. I warn my dick that nothing is happening tonight.
It’s going to be a long night, given the fact that we only have one bed in this house. We’ve never needed more for any reason. Except it would give us another surface to fuck on. Not that we need more. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a spot left untouched in or outside this house.
“You’re kidding me.”
The fire is back in her words, and like nothing happened.
I try to hold back my grin as I hand her bag so she can change. I was at least nice enough to pack some for her. Hell, I was being courteous, even packing her any clothing at all.
“Nope. There’s plenty of room for all of us… to sleep.” I emphasize the word not only for her, but for my dick. It really does need to calm down before it scares her or makes her think I have a weapon in my pants. I’m not exactly small.
“It does look… roomy.” She grumbles before heading into the adjoining bathroom.
I look at Grant, who has already put on sweatpants to sleep in. I’m not complaining as he looks fine in sweats, but normally we don’t wear anything to bed. Maybe I need to crack a window because we are going to melt. And sweaty doesn’t sound fun… unless we’re naked.
“Not sure how much sleep we are getting tonight,” I say, almost defeated. So much has happened tonight. I have questions, but I won’t be getting any answers tonight.
“It’s okay. If she really has an issue, I can go try to sleep on the couch.”
“No!” I whisper harshly. “I don’t want to sleep without you tonight. We’ve already had too many nights apart. Besides, you don’t fit on the couch. I’ve been telling you we need a larger one anyway for us to cuddle on.”
“And who’s fault is that…” He raises an eyebrow at me.
“Mine. I missed us, but I don’t regret anything. If I could have walked away, I would have. But Jo… It’s different. She’s different.”
“I know, love. Let’s just try to get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow. Today has already been an eventful day.”
He kisses me tenderly.
I turn down the lights and crawl in. I’m claiming the middle of the bed after all. He just shakes his head at me as he finishes getting ready.
