Page 26 of War

I looked at her. Her tired face, blinking sleepily back at me, was framed by her pink hair. She looked incredible.

“I did have to. Please enjoy.”

Then I looked at Neo and smiled. “I was told this is your favorite.” I opened the top of the barbecue pizza.

Neo’s eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?”

“Hell yeah, man. Err... Sorry. Umm... Heck yeah, man. Dig in. There are two of them.”

“Thanks!” Neo took two slices of pizza.

I asked Neo questions about school while we ate dinner. It turned out he was a science geek who was doing really well in school. He planned to go on to become a doctor.

“That's amazing, Neo. You should absolutely go for it.”

A smile broke across his face. “Thank you.”

I ate a bite of pizza and glanced over at Amantha. She'd propped her head against the wall and fallen asleep.

I said, “Aww. Someone fell asleep. Hey, Neo, where's her bed?”

“End of the hall, door on the left.”

“I'm going to carry her. Can you make sure the door is open, please?”

“Sure.” The boy’s stool slid back, and he took off down the hallway.

I stood and scooped Amantha into my arms. She snuggled her face into my chest.

She smelled so good. My heart beat faster in my chest as berries filled my senses. Despite wanting to, I kept myself from kissing her head.

I carried a sleeping Amantha back the hallway. Neo stood at a door at the end of the hallway with the door open.

“Thanks, man,” I whispered as I slipped into the room.

A simple bed, end tables, dresser, and TV filled the small, dark room. The curtains kept any light from coming in throughthe window. The only light came from the open hallway door. Books and a clock were on the end table I could see.

Neo came in behind us and tugged down the bedding.

I gently laid Amantha down on the mattress, her head on the pillow. I unlaced her shoes and carefully pulled them off, sitting them out of the way on the floor beside the bed.

After making sure she laid comfortably, I pulled the comforter around her sleeping form.

I smiled and bit my lip ring. She looked cute with her hair spread out on the pillow like that.

I brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Sweet dreams, Amantha.”

I looked at Neo. “Does she need an alarm set?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “Her clock automatically goes off during the week.”

I nodded and whispered, “Okay, let's go.”

Neo and I stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind us.

“It's early,” I said. “Wanna get out of here?”

Neo looked surprised. “Sure.”