Chapter 14 #3
“Unless that piece of paper is going to keep you warm, take your sweatshirt back.”
He eyes my sweater, draping off my shoulder and then the sheet. With a slight nod, he pulls his sweatshirt over him, after having set his cut down nicely on the back of the couch. They all do that. Handle their club leather with such care.
With not much else to do, I pull my knees up to my chest with the blanket wrapped tightly around me and nestle into the comfortable ass sofa. Hush keeps a good enough space between us but takes his thin sheet and wraps it around himself. My heart breaks into tiny pieces at the sight.
I don’t think about how he might react before asking, “May I?” He stares deadpan at me and the blanket I’m holding out between us. “I know you’re all, I’m used to the cold and all that, but even you have a breaking point.” I smile.
He seems to react to my words, his eyes growing lifeless and I wince at that.
When his features switch back to life, he finally says, “I’m good.”
I roll my eyes. “I fear the only way we won’t die of hypothermia is if we stay close to one another.”
Hush’s one eye makes a quick twitch and his fingers flex without closing completely. “I…” Hesitation forms around his words. “I don’t do this kind of thing.”
I tilt my head. “What? Cuddle up next to an almost stranger during a power outage in the dead of winter. Yeah, me either. First time, too.”
His eyes lighten with a tad amusement. But he finally caves, scooting in closer to me however, it’s still not enough to get the blanket around both of us. Holding out the thick cotton material I’m now noticing it looks like a bedspread. From his bed. No wonder it smells good.
“You’re gonna have to get closer than that. I promise I don’t bite.” Oddly enough, the idea of being arm and arm with him doesn’t scare me. He doesn’t scare me.
With a suppressing sigh, nothing of annoyance but instead, apprehension, Hush finishes the distance. The second his body touches mine; I go still. Not from fear, but something else entirely. It’s like fire melting ice.
“I’m sorry I make you uncomfortable,” I tell him, fully aware of how stiff his body is next to mine.
The hardness in his shoulders loosens. “It’s not you, it’s…” He stops himself and I’m hoping he’ll finish the sentence, but he doesn’t.
The bedspread grows taut when he does pull it over himself, letting it cover both of us. I will say, it’s a hell of a lot warmer like this.
His shoulder practically swallows the front of my chest, his scent lingering around us.
“You’re warm,” I whisper to him, feeling his hair skim across my temple as he turns to look down at me.
“You asked me to tell you something about myself.”
I swallow, not expecting that. “Yes.”
He nods, taking a short and shaky breath. “My mother died when I was a teenager.”
My breath catches, unsure if I should respond or let him keep going. If he keeps going.
“And my father… I don’t know where my father is.”
His words tug at my heart strings. “I’m so sorry.” I grew up with both my parents so I can’t imagine how hard that would have been. “I bet your mom was beautiful.” The words leave my mouth before I can think them through. I suppose given how Hush looks, I’d assume his mother was stunning.
“She was. Yes.”
“May I ask… was your mother American or your father? I don’t mean for that to offend you, I just…”
His features are strong, hard, and handsome.
“You didn’t offend me. My father is or was American.” He winces. “My mother was from Thailand.”
I smile. “I heard the country is stunning.”
Disappointment flashes across his features in a different sadness than before. “I wouldn’t know.”
“You’ve never been?”
He shakes his head. “My mother couldn’t afford much. She met my dad when he traveled on business. Her life wasn’t the greatest there, so she agreed to come back to the states with him and well—”
“Then they had you.”
He nods.
“How did she die?” I’m asking too much but I want to know him, so each question keeps spilling out.
“Depression won.” His attention focuses on the floor, but mine rests on him.
One powerful word is all I need to understand what he means.
I don’t need to ask anymore. Though, I yearn to wrap my arms around him in comfort.
Hush isn’t the man you cradle in your arms though.
Not right now at least. The thought was crazy.
Not now? As if I’d plan to embrace him, comfort him in the future?
I shiver, the bitterness of the air finding its way through me despite Hush’s warm body against mine. And I could have sworn I felt the slightest shift of him moving closer. Nearly impossible. But his thigh touches mine now.
“What about you? Why are you alone, Danika?”
My eyes slam closed because the way he says my name is like morning doves singing. He’s never said it before—addressed me by my name.
I shrug. “Being alone isn’t so terrible,” I reply, lying through my teeth. At times being alone has its advantages but other times, it’s gut wrenching. “You’re always alone.” I can curse myself after saying that.
“It’s better that way.”
For a reason unknown, my stomach grows sour with a tiny light burning out. “I lost my parents, too.” Not really wanting to talk about the tragic accident, I don’t elaborate, and I know Hush won’t push for more. “How did Hush become your name?”
As the wind whistles outside, the storm seems far from over.
“Just something the guys came up with.”
Should I ask? Shall I dare ask him to share his real name?
I don’t. Instead, I turn to get more comfortable, my breasts pushing into his muscular arm. The scar on my back also sends a shooting pain throughout my back but I manage to hide it.
“So, darts, huh?”
I smile at his comment. “It’s an embarrassing skill I picked up at drunken college parties. Nothing to really brag about.”
“It’s oddly impressive.”
A laugh bolts out. “Yeah, well… don’t get too excited. I don’t know how many times I’ll be playing darts in the future. I’d much rather be…” I pause realizing how easy it was to almost slip out my joy for yoga.
“What? What would you rather be doing, Danika?”
Goosebumps rise at the sound of my name again. It’s so smooth. “I used to teach at a yoga studio. But I’d rather not talk about it.” Warmth still seeps into me from his body as my eyes grow heavy. I don’t remember anything after that as the darkness falls upon me.