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The Reunion (Love Stories From a Small Town #5) 30. Always 48%
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30. Always

Istayed up half the night responding to Dom’s sporadic texts and few-second phone calls that faded from ‘I shouldn’t be much longer’ to ‘I’m so sorry, baby.’

I’d worked with more doctors and nurses than I could count over the years and witnessed the terrible pressure they faced, even under the best circumstances.

The overwhelming stress of Dom’s exhausting and understaffed shifts in this ICU on a shoestring budget in the boondocks leaked through his short, sweet messages, no matter how he tried to shield me from the truth of the toll his job took on him.

His whole life was in chaos most of the time, and it had gotten no simpler now that I returned to it. I took my responsibility to heart. Trust me. So, when I caught dueling male voices below me in the kitchen over the gurgles of my mouthwash, I rushed to finish getting ready for him.

Finding Dom and Dad standing against the counter in the kitchen, I leaned in the entryway. “What are you doing here so early?”

Yawning back at me, Dom checked his nonexistent timepiece. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” His eyes struggled to stay open as he wiggled his finger by his ear. “I didn’t leave work until a little bit ago and wasn’t thinking, I guess.”

When we were kids, he ran himself ragged night and day to make sure I had everything I needed. But we were older now, and the youthful energy that used to keep him going looked like it abandoned him sometime throughout the night.

Rushing to catch him before his body collapsed on itself, I laid my hand on his cheek and realized he was still wearing the same thing he left me in. “Have you been to sleep at all since you brought me home yesterday?”

Prying my fingers from his face, he kissed them and put his arm around me. “I’m fine. I just came to see if you wanted to go for a ride or something.”

My father and I shared a glance, and I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling as I led Dom toward the hallway. “Un-un. You’re going upstairs to bed right now. We can hang out when you wake up.”

Touching my shoulder as we passed him, Dad put his imaginary phone to his ear. “If you need anything, I’ll be up at the lake.”

Pointing behind me at him, I yelled over my shoulder. “If you get too drunk, call me. Don’t be driving home shitfaced.”

The crinkly shopping bag full of snacks I packed him fell from the counter. “Yes, ma’am.” Needing a good spritz of oil, the creaky kitchen door almost covered for him when he murmured back under his breath. “I forgot how damn bossy you are.”

Already pulling his shoes off when I got through the bedroom door behind him, Dom seemed to have trouble even catching his breath. “I’m so sorry I skipped out on you last night.”

Straightening out the bedding I hadn’t made, I yanked out the sheet from the bottom so his long legs could poke out the end. “You never have to apologize to me for doing your job. Especially not one as important as yours.”

He pulled me to him, pushing his face into my belly to kiss it. “I don’t want you thinking it’s always going to be like this.” Squeezing my legs together as he hugged them, he tipped his eyes up at me. “We’re just in between rent-a-docs and students right now. So, it’s a little more crazy than usual.”

The only thing we ever really argued about when we were together before was how neglected I expected to be once he went to college. The hint of panic in his eyes took me back to those old conversations, and I realized how worried he must have been that I’d only abandon him again when things got too tough.

Working at the three buttons holding the top of his shirt together, I paused to touch his face. I needed to squash that doubt, or I knew he’d kill himself trying to stay up twenty-four hours a day to keep me happy. “I understand how things are, and I’m going to be right there with you soon. We’re on the same team now. Remember?”

I pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it in the chair beside my dresser as he fought to push himself up to undo his jeans. “Just let me close my eyes for a few minutes, and I’ll be fine.” When he tried to kick off his pants, he lost his balance and dropped back onto the mattress. “Fuck.”

I pushed him back with my hand on his shoulder when he tried to sit up again and slid onto the bed beside him. “You’ll sleep until you’re done sleeping. Now scooch over.”

The second I crawled in next to him, he pinned me against his chest, smiling with his eyes closed. “Want to fool around?”

My hair twisted in his fingers as he nipped at my mouth to keep me from saying no until I put my hand between us. “Yes.” His thumb slid down my hip, and my sleep pants went with it until I pulled them back. “As soon as you open your eyes again, I promise.”

I wiggled my arm underneath his neck as he pouted about it and pulled him to my shoulder. “Now, go to sleep.”

Kissing his temple, I scratched at his scalp as he always liked as a tear rolled down my chest. Sniffling back at me, he balled his hand and slapped it against his head. “I’m so fucking tired, but I can’t switch this thing off. You know?”

Seeing someone so smart and full of life flip on a switch to an inconsolable emotional wreck when they finally crashed was heartbreaking — but so was knowing part of that was my fault. “I know. But I’m here with you now, so you can close your eyes.”

I worked the blanket over us, and he pulled my leg over him, relaxing entirely. “Can you put on a movie or something? I can’t stand the quiet.”

I reached over my head to the shelf on my headboard for the remote. Our favorite movie to cuddle up to when we were younger was still in the old DVD machine when I moved back in the other day, and I’d played it a dozen times already. “Of course.”

His pale eyelashes fluttered against my breast until they stopped, and shallow, steady breaths blew over me. “You love me still? Don’t you, Faith?”

The last time he asked me if I loved him, I said yes and left him behind anyway. So I knew nothing that came out of my mouth would ever mean anything if I didn’t back it up from now on. “Always.” I pulled on his hair enough that I could see his half-open eyes. “Like you said, we’re soul mates. Aren’t we?”

He was asleep on the next exhale, and I lay there with him until the movie ended, letting him have a few hours of peace before the entire world started pulling him in all directions again.

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