Page 85 of The Better Brother

“That was amazing.” She was breathless. “Better than amazing.”

“I love you,” I said quickly. “I love you. I love you.”

She kissed me long and hard as she rolled onto her side to lay beside me. My arms moved to wrap around her shaking body. We held each other all night, whispering “I love you” until we both fell asleep.

CHAPTER 33

Julie

When Michael and I woke up the next morning, neither of us wanted to get out of bed. The sun was streaming through the curtains, and the chilly air made us snuggle closer under the covers. I rested my head on his chest while he ran his fingers slowly through my hair. There was still so much to talk about, but I couldn’t bring myself to ruin the moment.

“I was thinking,” Michael said. “Maybe we should go visit Joshua today.”

I nodded. “Sure. That’s a good idea.”

“Would it be too weird for you?” Michael asked.

I laughed. “No. We ended our conversation on a good note yesterday. I think he really does feel bad for everything that happened.”

“I think so, too,” Michael said. “He’s been apologizing to me nonstop since his accident. Maybe they operated on his brain and didn’t tell us.”

I laughed again, and Michael joined in. It felt amazing to just lie there in his arms. I never wanted to move, but he was right. Seeing Joshua was the right thing to do.

“Sheila might be there,” Michael said. His voice was low as if he were speaking more to himself.

“I thought you said things are okay with you guys,” I said. I traced my fingers over his chest.

“They are,” he said. “But I don’t know. It might be weird. I mean, you know her, right? You met her while you and Josh were together?”

“A couple of times.” I nodded. “Sheila’s nice.”

“She is,” Michael said.

“Are you worried she’ll have a problem with us?” I asked.

“No,” Michael said. “She already knows about you.”

“She does?” I sat up, surprised to hear that.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “She said that since Josh broke up with you, you’re fair game as far as she’s concerned.”

I laughed and nodded. “Yup. That sounds like Sheila.”

“She said she really likes you,” Michael said.

“We got along well,” I said with a shrug. “Joshua didn’t bring me around her very often. Then again, Joshua didn’t bring me around very many people.”

“He’s a dipshit,” Michael said firmly. “We all know that. But it seems like this accident has put things in perspective for him.”

I smiled and laid my head back down on his chest. We spent the rest of the morning just lounging around. We lay in bed, kissing and touching until we couldn’t take the tension anymore. We ate breakfast, took a shower, and then decided it was time to head up to the hospital.

Michael held my hand on the drive to Dallas. He’d been touching me lightly all morning. Brushing my hair off my face, wrapping his arm around my waist, tracing his fingers over my lower back. It felt like he didn’t want me to stray too far away, like he was afraid I might suddenly disappear.

We made it to the hospital just after lunch. Joshua was sitting up in bed, with Sheila perched on the edge of his mattress.

“Hey!” Sheila said when we walked in. “I didn’t expect you to be here today.”

“We thought it would be nice to stop by,” Michael said, looking at me pointedly.