“Come on,” she argued, batting her long eyelashes at me. “It’s romantic, the way they fall in love without ever meeting?”
“I’ll watch anything you want. I’ll even suffer through the Kardashians, as long as you stay right where you are.”
She beamed up at me, struggling to keep her pretty green eyes open.
“I think we should talk later, you know … about stuff. I’m just too tired now,” she murmured, cozying up to me.
“I know, we will.” I threaded my fingers in her hair, rubbing her forehead with the pad of my thumb. “Not now though, tomorrow. Just rest.”
She didn’t resist. The corners of her plump, pink lips curled up in a half smile and she blinked one last time. I watched her, waiting to see if her eyes would flutter open again. It’s a very relaxing thing watching someone fall asleep, that moment where they lose all control of their minds and surrender to their subconscious. They say you often dream about something that happened in your day, good or bad. I was pretty sure I’d be dreaming about Ferris wheels later, I hoped she was too.
I quietly propped my feet up on the coffee table, careful not to disturb her head and slowly shimmied the remote from her lifeless hand.
Kacie asleep on my lap and SportsCenter on the TV… heaven.
“Brody. Brody, wake up.”
I pried my eyes open and lifted my head to see who was calling my name, as pain shot up the right side of my neck. I must have fallen asleep in a funny position, but I was groggy and last thing I remembered was watching Baseball Tonight’s Web Gems with Kacie sound asleep on my lap. Where was she, anyway?
“You okay?” Fred asked in a loud whisper.
I rubbed the pain away. “Yeah, I’m fine, Fred.”
“Let’s go fishing again.” A wide grin crossed Fred’s face, making him impossible to turn down, even though I wanted nothing more than to crawl up the stairs to my room and go back to sleep. I grabbed my phone to check the time but all I noticed was the little envelope lit up in the top right corner signaling a text from Kacie.
“Sure, Fred, I’m up for fishing again. Just give me a minute to use the bathroom and grab a quick bite and I’ll meet you out there.”
His face lit up as he reached down and patted my shoulder. “Sounds good, see you in a few minutes.”
I gave him a little wave as he disappeared out the back door and then turned my attention back to my phone.
HEY! I WENT TO BED BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE YOU BECAUSE YOU LOOKED SO PEACEFUL. SEE YOU AT BREAKFAST. :)
Relief washed over me. I was slightly worried after her little nap last night, she would wake up feeling like she’d made a huge mistake and possibly regret last night, especially that kiss.
Holy shit, that kiss.
“Thought maybe you’d bailed on me,” Fred said as I sauntered down the hill toward his run-down red canoe.
I ran my hand through my hair and forced a smile at him. “Nope, just moving slow this morning, sorry.”
“No problem.” He hopped out of the canoe and walked around next to me, motioning to his small wooden death trap. “Let’s push her off and hop on in.”
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind fishing with Fred at all, it was actually really relaxing. We just had a really long day yesterday, both physically and mentally exhausting, and I didn’t exactly sleep well sitting straight up on the couch overnight.
I liked Fred, but I loved sleep.
It really was a beautiful morning out on the lake though. The fog was still sitting just on top of the calm water, the birds were just starting to chirp, not a soul around. Fred and I paddled about fifty yards from the shore before he spoke again. “This look good?”
“Sure. Looks great,” I said in between yawns.
“You’re gonna let the flies in,” he teased.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me today, I’m never like this.” I reached down and scooped up a small handful of lake water and splashed it on the back of my neck, hoping the shock of the chilly water would wake me up.
“Well, sleeping on that couch like you were all night certainly doesn’t help. I’m glad you came out here with me though, I want to talk to you.” He stared off in the distance and squinted his eyes. “I’ve known Sophia and Kacie for about ten years now. Sophia and I have grown to be great friends, and Kacie … well, she’s like a daughter to me, Brody.” He looked me square in the eye and I focused right back on his. “I don’t know how much she’s told you about her past, but when that little prick left her four years ago, it devastated her.”