Page 60 of Laugh

My smile falls when his does, right before he looks up at me with tears glistening in his eyes. “I’m not your rock, Harry. You’remine.”

I force down the urge to sob and jab my finger in the air at him. “None of that shit, Marcus. Today is going to be ahappyday, because coincidentally enough, that’s my goddamn name now, which means I get to decide.” Looking away from him, I drag the box for the puzzle over to me and open it up, dumping out the pieces. “And you’re fucking wrong. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

Blinking away my tears, I start flipping over the pieces so they’re all face up, taking a moment to get myself under control. After a few moments, Marcus’s hand slowly reaches out to help me. We’re both silent as we work and I fucking hate it.

Finally, he breaks the silence, and my shoulders fall with the release of tension from my muscles. “You could probably write a book about two rocks getting it on… just saying,” he mumbles out.

Humming, I think it over, thankful for his attempt to lighten the mood. “Maybe.Oh, what if it was a rock and a geode?”

Bobbing his head back and forth, he considers the question. “That could work, but isn’t a geode considered a rock?”

Pausing my hands, I blink up at him. “Huh. I don’t know. I’ll look it up.” Grabbing my phone, I quickly search the question on whether or not a geode is a rock then smile when I see the answer. “It’s a hollow rock where the insides are lined with crystals. Sort of perfect to be the lady. Gotta have a hole if you’re gonna take something hard, amiright?”

Laughing softly, he shakes his head at me, amused by my antics. I continue a running commentary as we organize our pieces, plotting out what’s quickly becoming my new favorite idea.

“Have you ever heard of that desert where the rocks move, but no one knows why? They leave the trails in the sand and go all the way across the valley. I should set up the story that ol’ Rocky is on one end and the moment he spies little Ode on the other side, he knows he just has to have her. So, he spends years inching his way across the sand until, one night, he finally makes it. Then she could open herself up and show him her gems.”

Snickering, he says, “A true love story.”

“Epic!” I agree.

“Kind of like you and ol’ Cap,” he adds, peeking up at me for my reaction.

Frowning at him, I can’t stop myself from arguing. “I’m not sure he’s thinking along those lines. Not now, anyway. It’s only been like a month and he hasn’t really said anything regarding how he feels about me.”

Raising a brow, Marcus stares at me like I’m an idiot. “He’snot thinking along those lines? What about you? Also, I think you’re wrong. I think that guy is head over heels for you. You’re just clueless.” When I open my mouth to argue, he quickly adds, “In all the best of ways. It’s adorable.”

“I think you’re delusional,” I say, glaring at him.

He matches my glare with an even better one. “I think you’re in denial.”

Sniffing, I sit up straighter. “Whatever. I’d say we can agree to disagree, but we’re going to agree that I’m right.” He simply rolls his eyes at me.

We spend the rest of the day chatting, laughing, and reminiscing over stupid things we remember from the moment we first met. I ignore the niggling feeling that I need to remember every single second of this day, and instead just enjoy the peace.

While we eat lunch, pausing on our puzzling, Marcus is acting sheepish when he asks, “Sooo… how’s my, umm… how’s my apartment?”

Waving him off, I refuse to allow him to stress about his place another second. “Fine. Perfect even. I got you, boo. It’s all taken care of. I even left you little stickers of happy faces in random places, so you’re surprised when you find them. There are…” I pretend to count on my fingers, “twenty-six of them.”

He still looks worried, and I justknowhe’s more concerned about how I felt about it, so I try my best to reassure him.

“Look, was it bad? Yes, yes it was. You know this and I know this. Do I care? Absolutely not. I know thatthathas never happened before, which means it’s a symptom of your declining health over the past few months. I’m not mad at you, Marcus, and I’m honored that you allowed me to do this thing for you. It gave me a purpose this weekend.”

I stare at him until he can read every bit of truth behind my eyes. Then, slowly, he nods his head and sighs loudly. Nothing more is said as we slide the table back over after finishing our lunch to get back to work.

I hide my smile when he whispers, “Thanks for being my geode.”

Chapter 23

We Need a Truck

Beau

Walking into the library, I search for my beautiful redhead and spy her leaning over a book behind the main counter.

We finished up at Marcus’s apartment over the weekend. Then she spent two days sitting in the hospital with Marcus, joking around while doing that jigsaw puzzle together. Haddie finally looks refreshed. She slept at my place again last night and barely made it through dinner before passing out.

We’ve yet to christen my bed, but I have plans for tonight if I get to have it my way. Smirking over thoughts of all the ways I plan on distracting her, I quickly make my way to her. I bite my cheek when I lean over the counter because she still hasn’t noticed me. The sly minx is working on a crossword puzzle, completely engrossed and lost to anything around her.

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