Page 16 of One Night With You

“Oh hell. I didn’t even think about that.”

“It’ll be fine. It’s always going to be an issue when you take trips out here, but we’ve done it before. And the alerts aren’t that bad.”

His phone buzzed again, and I nearly jumped in my skin before his jaw went tense.

“What’s wrong. Did they close the pass?”

“No… I mean maybe. No, it’s just Eddie.”

My heart raced. “Oh. Do you want privacy?”

He shook his head as he answered, putting the phone on speakerphone. I stood there, not knowing what to do with my hands, or anything else. “Hey,” Kingston said, his face full of smiles, brightness, and not a lick of worry.

He was so damn good at that. Hiding his own worry to help others.

He had been like that with me, except once.

When he had looked at me in the mirror, and I had seen worry etched on his face. And that was when I knew I had to let him go. At least the thought of him.

“Hey there. We have good news,” Eddie said, and when Kingston nearly staggered, I put my hand on the small of his back, keeping him steady. I hadn’t meant to, hadn’t even thought about it, but then the heat of him was against my skin, and I couldn’t let go.

“Really?”

“Yeah, things seem to be looking up. You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“It was nothing.”

“It was something. I just, I don’t have words. You keep giving, and I’m so damn grateful for you in my life.”

“I’m so damn grateful too,” Eddie’s wife called from the other side of the phone, and though I couldn’t see them, I saw the way that Kingston’s shoulders relaxed, and his eyes went a bit glassy.

They spoke for a few minutes more, and I could see the adoration in that man’s face.

When they hung up, Kingston just beamed at me. “He’s still in the hospital, but he’s doing better. Fuck, he’s doing better.”

He set the phone down, and before I knew what was happening, he was taking me by the hips, and spinning me around the kitchen. I put my arms on his shoulders, laughing with him, as we danced to music nobody could hear, and he just grinned.

“So. He’s doing great. Everything’s fine. Oh, thank God.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

Kingston hugged me tightly then, resting his chin on top of my head, as he let out a deep, relieved sigh, and Iheld him close, feeling his heart beat rapidly against my ear.

We stood there for a moment in silence, but awkwardness hadn’t settled in. Instead it felt normal.

What the hell was wrong with me?

When his phone buzzed again, we broke apart quickly, and then my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

I pulled it out and looked at the mess of text messages in the group chat.

“Oh my God,” I muttered.

“Fuck,” Kingston snapped.

Crew:

Well, I’m in a car with Aria and Travis, and we’re stuck at the pass.

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