Page 29 of The Road to Finding Us

He pulls the blanket tighter against his chin. “I’m good right where I am.”

A small gasp leaves my lips when I realize the man isn’t freaking moving.

I can sleep with Aspen without things being weird. Right?

I’m fucking cool as a cucumber.

This is fine. Everything’s fine.

It’s not like I’ll even accidentally touch him with how large his bed is. And there is no way in hell I’m sleeping in a room with homicidal dolls.

“Seriously, stop thinking too much into it. I don’t care where you sleep but stop standing there being just as creepy as the dolls that got us into this situation,” he says in a groggy voice.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” The words tumble out of my mouth before I can get a rein on them.

His hand slaps the blanket down as he focuses on me. “Lily, do you think I’d be offering for you to sleep in the same bed as me if I had a girlfriend? Or better yet, traveling just the two of us if I did?”

I take tiny steps closer to the bed. “Well it’s not like anything is going to happen between us.”

“I didn’t say it was.” He’s got me there.

I tentatively climb into the bed, lying on the very edge. There’s no spare inch between me and the edge of the mattress. If I shifted to the left, even slightly, I’d be hanging off the bed.

I don’t move a muscle for a few minutes, trying to be as little of a nuisance as possible.

After I don’t know how long, Aspen turns to face me. The moon shining in through the window illuminates the right side of his face perfectly.

The two of us stare at each other silently. Both our eyes slowly roam over the features of the other. It appears he might say something, and just when I think I might be seeing things, he opens his mouth to talk.

“Thank you for riding with me, Lily. It feels good to be with you again.” And then his eyes drift close, and I’m too stunned to even respond.

16

Aspen

Past - Age Twenty-One

“Guys, we shouldn’t be doing this,” Selma complains as we walk through the woods that surround the perimeter of the park.

“It’ll be fine, Selm,” I try to encourage her, squeezing her shoulder in support. She takes her eyes off Maverick for a moment, looking over at me and giving a timid smile.

“If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. We can just go home.” The words come from Maverick. He motions for Lily to stop in front of him, who gives Selma a reassuring smile in the process.

“I think I’m just nervous,” Selma says, tentatively rubbing her elbow as her eyes bounce between us.

The four of us were at the apartment when Lily had the bright idea that she wanted to break into the park near our apartment and go drink by the lake.

Because drinking at the apartment or at Lenny’s wasn’t quite good enough.

“We’ll just go home, then,” Maverick offers, leaning down to kiss her on the head.

Selma nods her head. “I’m sorry, you guys. I’m too much of a rule follower.” She gives a defeated shrug.

“That’s why we love you, Selma,” I tell her, taking the few steps until I’m standing in front of her. I rub the top of her head playfully to try to ease her worry.

“I’ll break the rules enough for the two of us,” Lily adds, wagging her eyebrows.

“We’ll catch the two of you later. Have fun,” Maverick throws out, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend. They both utter goodbyes one last time before they disappear through the tree line.

---