“I noticed,” I murmur, slightly irritated. I don’t mean to sound gruff, but I can’t help it. Stealing a sideways glance at Tyler, I quickly go over his words. They’re not dating. They’re just friends. They toured together . . . Toured the East Coast, raising awareness . . . Raising awareness of abuse by sharing their own stories. I press a finger to my lips and stare at Tyler until he shifts his eyes to mine. “If she was on the tour, does that mean . . . ?”
I can see him swallow as he looks away again, his eyes dropping to the ground. “Yeah. Not physically,” he says after a moment of silence. His voice seems almost fragile. “Emotionally. She’s really sensitive, so think about what you say to her before you say it.”
I groan and press my hands to my face. Bending over, I hang my head between my knees, wishing I hadn’t jumped to conclusions and dramatically stormed away from her. “She must think I’m a rude bitch.”
“I can’t argue with that one.”
I quickly sit up and push his shoulder, rolling my eyes. I don’t feel sick anymore. I feel relaxed and content. “I thought you were dating her. Can you blame me?”
“Did the thought of me with someone else piss you off? Did it totally get your temper going?” He’s grinning as he gets to his feet, standing tall and smoldering his eyes down at me. Gently, he reaches for my hands and pulls me up. He doesn’t let go of me once I’m up and standing, only moves his hands to my shoulders, firmly looping his arms around the back of my neck and pulling my body tight against his. “Are you that addicted to me, Eden Munro?”
I wrap my arms around him too, just above his waist. “You wish,” I tease, but I’m lying. Hopefully he can’t tell.
I tilt my head back a little to look up at him, and I almost knock my forehead against his chin as he smiles down at me, eyes sparkling and all. “So about Emily,” he says. He moves his head forward and to begin with I think he might be attempting to kiss me, but he doesn’t. He hugs me tight, his face lingering just above my left shoulder. “You’ve got nothing to be worried about,” he whispers slowly, his breath hot against my cheek, “because, baby, I’m all yours.”
11
It rains until Saturday. Relentless and annoying, it hardly ceases for three days straight. Sometimes it stops for an hour or so, and just when we believe the sun might return, it starts again. It alternates between light drizzle and heavy showers.
And so for three days, we watch the Harry Potter movies. Every single movie, all eight of them, twice. It’s Snake’s suggestion, of course, and it’s all because Emily and her British accent decided to walk through the door. Eventually I did muster up the courage to apologize to her for being so rude, so there’s no longer any tension between the two of us. It’s quite nice lounging around inside, all four of us wrapped in blankets, surrounded by pizza boxes and beer bottles. Again, Snake’s suggestion. None of us has the energy to suggest anything else, and quite frankly we’re all content with the lifestyle we seem to suddenly be living. By night two we run out of beer, and by day three we start ordering Chinese takeout instead of pizza. Tyler isn’t too impressed with the food choice and by this point I’m starting to feel guilty for eating so much crap, so we leave the Chinese food for Snake and Emily. When it’s nearing midnight on the third day, we’re on to the eighth movie for the second time, and I’m unable to keep my eyes open.
I end up falling asleep on the couch that night, my head resting on Tyler’s shoulder, a huge blanket wrapped around us. Through half-closed eyes, I try to focus on Snake and Emily in the darkness, lit up only by the glow from the TV. They’re on the couch opposite us, both already fast asleep. Snake’s mouth is open, his head tilted back against the couch, and Emily’s sprawled out across his body, her face buried into his chest. If I listen really closely, I can hear one of them quietly snoring.
“Are you still awake?” Tyler whispers, his voice raspy.
“Yeah,” I murmur. My eyes are shut, though, and I pull the blanket a little closer around us, despite how warm we already are. We’ve been lying in the same spot for hours.
“You can head to bed if you want,” he says, voice still quiet. “You don’t have to stay here.”
Half asleep, I still manage to slowly smile in the darkness. I angle my body into his, pressing a hand to his chest and burying my face into his shoulder. Against his shirt, I whisper, “I want to stay here.”
And so I fall asleep to the feeling of Tyler’s chest rising beneath me, to his soft breathing warming my cheek. I fall asleep as he plays with my hair, as he rests his chin on my forehead. I fall asleep in the arms of the person I’m in love with, with the sound of the rain gently pattering against the windows. Ultimately, I fall asleep that night without the smile ever fading from my lips.