Page 26 of Stopped
Biting my tongue, I sidestepped and gave Ashley one last glance.
“Elijah, please don't be angry.” She batted her lashes. I'd have laughed if I weren't so utterly flabbergasted.
“I'm not mad, Ash.” More like betrayed, but I wasn't about to mince words with her on Main Street under Brixton’s smug scrutiny. “Call me, we’ll talk. And… congrats.”
The last part was hard to get out of my mouth, but I was determined to be the bigger man. One of my close friends was quite literally sleeping with the enemy. I honestly couldn't even fathom it, even as I stayed behind and watched them disappear down the street. I huffed and shook my head before glancing down at the phone in my hand. Maybe finding a job elsewhere wasn't such a bad idea after all. My back up plan was looking more and more like a concrete plan by the second as I opened the device and resumed searching the available listings.
I hadn't seen or heard from my barely-a-boyfriend in days. My opponent for the elected role I wanted was stealing not only my endorsements and supporters, but evidently my friends as well. The final kick in the teeth was the fact that Brixton remembered and reminded me about the humiliating denial that had ruined my friendship with Will in the first place. In perfectly imperfect timing, my phone vibrated with a text just as the first droplet of chilly rain hit the screen.
Will: Are you going to be home tonight?
I blinked, wiped the rain from the screen, and blinked again. No hello. No apology for going dark for days. Not a single answer to any of my texts or calls. Just one simple question that felt altogether too loaded. I couldn't even figure out how I wanted to respond, let alone formulate said response amid the cacophonous clamor of my thoughts. With a beleaguered sigh, I pocketed the phone and began the long walk back to my car. In the rain. Because of course.
Hours later, curled up on my couch with self-pity Ben and Jerry’s and a White Claw, a knock on my door startled me from my wallowing. I pressed pause on my comfort-rewatch of Designated Survivor and unfurled myself from the mountain of blankets I'd buried myself in before trudging to the door to peer through the window at the top. Much to my surprise, a six-foot tall, rain-soaked Will-shaped form came into view, barely illuminated by the little light overhead.
“Jesus,” I muttered under my breath before whipping the door open. “Get in here, you fool.”
“Hey—oh… thanks.” Will expelled a soft chuckle as I dragged him over the threshold.
“How long were you standing out there?” I hurried down the hall and returned with an armful of towels from the linen closet.
“I don't know. Maybe… twenty minutes.” His head ducked down and his shoulders sagged. “I'm sorry.”
“Shh, no.” I looped one of the towels around his shoulders and tugged it tight. “Why didn't you knock?”
“Because I messed up and didn't know how to fix it.” His dejected expression cut through all my jumbled doubts and pierced straight into my heart.
“You've had a lot on your mind. It's okay. You're here now.” I stepped into his space and coiled my arms around his waist, drenched garments be damned. The poor man clearly needed a hug and I was more than happy to provide it. Especially considering I really needed one, too. He melted into me with a serene sigh.
“I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to say.”
I pressed my cheek to his, our stubble rasping together as I nuzzled his face. “We don't have to say anything at all. I'm here.”
His arms tightened around me almost to the point of too much, a shiver detectable in his tightly-wound muscles. Isuspected it had nothing to do with being chilled and everything to do with the emotions clearly displayed in his features.
“Thank you,” Will choked out with a gasp before burying his face against my shoulder. For as much as we needed to talk, I knew this wasn't the time. I might have been wallowing in self-pity and doubt and defeat, but in comparison, Will was a man barely hanging on to the edge. My heart broke for him. So much so, it was easy to put aside my own trivial fears and concentrate on his clearly troubled state.
“Come on. You need a warm bed and probably eighteen hours of sleep judging by the bags under your eyes.” I gently pulled away and cupped his chin. “We’re okay. Right now, everything's okay. Stay with me tonight.”
“I put my Dad into a nursing home today,” he blurted out with a rough edge to his voice. The pain radiating from his eyes was enough to stop my heart beating. “He remembered who I was long enough to tell me to never come back.”
“Oh, God. Will…” I pulled his head back to my shoulder and held him close. “I'm so sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Never had Will, the strong protector with the sunshine smile, seemed so weak and small and uncertain. It was all I could do to not break down crying for him. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in his place, but just the thought of it alone was enough to leave my gut hollow and my heart aching.
“Come to bed, babe. We’ll figure it all out in the morning.” I gently urged him to follow me, never loosening my embrace as he shuffled forward at my insistence. Navigating backwards through the house, I guided us into my bedroom and disentangled our bodies until I could carefully peel the wet clothes from his frame. He made absolutely zero effort to help, moving only when I positioned him to raise his arms or lift his legs. With a vacant expression and robotic movements, he climbed into my bed and pulled me close as soon as I wasundressed and crawling in beside him. His eyes were closed before my head landed on his chest.
Unable to fall asleep as easily as his exhaustion allowed him to, I sighed at the irony—I got my wish to have him with me through the night, but the somber heaviness of the moment was not how I had envisioned spending our first night together. The steady thump of his beating heart eventually lulled me to sleep, but the hollowness of my chest remained. I had everything I had longed for, so why did I feel so alone?
Chapter Fourteen
William
The heaviness of myeyelids refused to relent as morning light taunted me awake. Frankly, I could sleep for a week and the bone-deep exhaustion would likely still persist. The only saving grace was the warm body beside me in the unfamiliar bed. It was a solace I didn’t deserve but refused to let go of. I didn’t need to open my eyes to envision his features. I didn’t want to open my eyes for fear it was all a dream, and the nightmare of my life would come plummeting down around me.
The continual brightening of the room became more insistent with every passing moment until I finally cracked my eyelids open to stare at the ceiling overhead. Despite my weariness, the whirring of my intrusive thoughts was too loud for rest to return. Evidently, the volume was enough to disturb my bedfellow as well.
“It’s too early for all that obsessing, babe.” EJ shifted and buried his face into the center of my chest. “Your thinking is exceptionally loud.”