Chapter 15
Rhys
Day Ten
The proximity was killing me.
I thought moving into her apartment was torture. Sharing a hotel room would surely be the death of me. The way she hummed in the shower, the way she climbed into bed with me after a bad dream, and the way she curled around my body.
It was a slow, beautiful torture.
Our flight back to Boston was set to take off in two hours. As she packed her suitcase, even just the way she danced around the room, her head bopping slowly to the music playing in her earphones, was so adorably endearing that my chest ached as I watched from the doorway of our room.
She twirled after tossing something into the suitcase open on the bed and then jumped, shrieking as her hand flew up to her chest. “Rhys!”
Sloane balled up a pair of her socks and tossed them in my direction with a grin on her lips. “You scared the shit out of me!”
I caught the socks, making her roll her eyes, and tossed them back towards her suitcase. “In my defense, I did knock twice before entering the room.”
“Knock louder!”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time.” I chuckled.
She put the last of her things inside her suitcase before zipping it shut.
“Ready to head back to the real world?” I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I wasn’t.
The second I looked up at her, I regretted saying anything about it. I should’ve just kept my damn mouth shut. The realization that we were soon heading back to Boston chipped away at the playfulness on her face, and I felt terrible.
“Shit, Pip. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
Her eyes dropped to the floor, but she waved me off, tracing the pattern on the carpet with her foot before walking towards the bed and dropping down beside me.
“It’s been nice.” Sloane let out a slow breath, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I wasn’t letting myself think about going back.
I haven’t felt this… at peace in a long time.
Like every time I turn a corner back home, I’m waiting for him to pop out.
Being here, miles away, has given me the chance to relax. I haven’t had that in a long time.”
The air in the room felt so heavy around us.
“I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something. I hate not being able to help.”
She reached over, threading her fingers through mine. “You have helped, Rhys. More than you know. Thank you.” Her gaze lifted to mine, and the sincerity in her eyes nearly undid me.
I wanted to keep her here. Tucked away from the world and safe, far away from anything that could hurt her. But I knew that wasn’t a possibility. I had to figure out how to keep her safe in Boston.
“You don’t have to thank me. I’ll always do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy and safe. You know that.”
Maybe she didn’t. I hated to dwell on the past, but maybe the distance ruptured more of our friendship and trust than I could repair. I hoped that wasn’t the case.
“I know,” she said quietly, smiling softly in my direction. “I’m gonna miss this. That’s all. Safety. The quiet. You. Cami being down the hall whenever I need her instead of across town.”
My thumb brushed absently over her knuckles.
I wished I could tell her just how much I was going to miss this, too. This small little blip of time that made everything feel so fucking real.
I’d miss it all so much more than she knew.
“I’m not going anywhere. Neither is Cami. I think everyone knows by now that we’re a package deal.”
That made her chuckle. “Well, yeah. But I can’t exactly follow you around everywhere. We both have jobs and commitments. I can’t just constantly invade your space for the sake of protection.”
“You can, though. We also have a—” I sighed, hating the way this sounded. “—contractual commitment. So, I think by those standards, you’re contractually obligated to invade whatever space you need to when it comes to me.” I nudged her shoulder softly.
Her head rested against my shoulder, her hand tightening around mine. “I know you don’t want me to say it, but I’m going to anyway. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, Pip.” I hated how much I meant it.
We sat in silence for another minute, and the sounds from the world outside slowly came back to me. “You ready to head out?”
Sloane lifted her head and nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it.”