Page 78 of The Kidnapped

Raleigh nodded and asked, “How can I help?”

“You already are,” Hollis replied. “Just being here with you helps.”

“But you’re still awake.”

“It’s also only ten,” Hollis noted. “I’m usually still awake at this hour. I try to sleep, can’t, and by midnight, my mom needs to go to the bathroom, so my body is just used to staying up now.”

Raleigh slipped on top of her, surprising Hollis, who placed her hands on Raleigh’s hips more on instinct than actual thought.

“Do you want a massage?”

“A massage?”

“Yes,” Raleigh said, smiling. “I’m out of practice, but I give good massages. If you roll over, I can give you a back massage to help with some of that tension.”

“Well, now I’m jealous of anyone you’ve given a back massage to.”

“There were a lot of girls back when I was in–”

“Oh, my God!” Hollis laughed a lot louder than she expected herself to. “I get it. You were the sexy drummer who all the girls wanted.”

“I love that sound. That’s your whole laugh, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Hollis asked, rubbing up and down across Raleigh’s back under her T-shirt.

“I’ve heard you laugh before, obviously, but usually, it’s still like you’re holding something back. That was it, though: that was your whole, perfect laugh.”

“I guess,” Hollis said, smiling up at her. “I don’t think I’ve laughed like that in a while.”

“I want more of that,” Raleigh told her. “I want to laugh like that with you.”

“Then, I can tell you about how I tried to join my high school band once, and they ended up putting me on the triangle because that was all I could play.”

“What?” Raleigh laughed loudly and sat up, straddling Hollis’s hips fully, making Hollis feel all kinds of things she hadn’t felt in a very long time. “Triangle?”

“It didn’t last long – my dad found out and took me out of it – but yeah, I was on the triangle. I’d tried a few instruments and failed, so no girls tried to pick me up.”

“I would have,” Raleigh replied, moving her hands to Hollis’s stomach under her shirt.

“I was fourteen.”

“And I would’ve been almost fourteen, looking for an older woman.”

“Older, gawky teenager with no rhythm”

“Does the no-rhythm part apply to all things?” Raleigh asked.

Hollis looked down then without thinking. Yeah, she was looking at Raleigh’s hips, which were moving a little against her. It wasn’t an obvious movement, but Hollis had definitely noticed.

“I’ve never had any complaints about my rhythm in other contexts,” she said, swallowing hard.

Raleigh’s eyes were on hers now, and they just stared at each other.

“It’s been a long time,” Raleigh shared.

“For me, too,” Hollis replied.

“We haven’t even kissed yet, you know?” Raleigh noted.

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