Page 8 of Sunshine & Sinful

Rushing to my kitchen window, I peek through a wooden slat of my blinds and watch them amble back to Dark’s house, side-by-side, no longer on the verge of murdering the other, and I’m… speechless.

Like a creeper, I watch until they disappear.

My fingers tremble from the adrenaline rush.

That was not how I expected today to end.

Shaking my head, I pad to my bedroom right off the kitchen, undress in the attached bathroom, and turn on the shower, hoping the warm water will abate the trembling.

Closing my eyes, the spray pours across my face.

“Then talk to me, goddammit. Let me fix it.”Sunshine’s raw words turn like a broken record in my head.

Talk to him.

What would I say?

What is there to say?

Talk to him?

Why?

It changes nothing.

A hiccup cry bubbles out of my throat as I drown myself under the water. I press my palm to my stomach as the wretched second pours from my lips, followed by a third.

Why did they have to show up tonight?

Why are they here?

Just yesterday, Tarek said Dad wouldn’t talk to Abby, and now he’s home.

None of this makes any sense.

Fuck.

I miss them.

Just seeing them… seeing Sunshine…

I…

Squeezing my eyes shut until my temples ache, I shake my head to clear it.

No more of this.

No more crying.

I can’t do this.

Today was a great day. It can’t end like this.

On autopilot, I wash my body and hair, and before I register what I’m doing, I’m lying in bed, naked, a towel wrapped around my head.

I stare at the spot next to me, where he slept—a place I can’t bring myself to let Todd taint. We stay at his place if we have overnight dates.

Sliding my hand beneath the covers, I massage the cold spot where his body should be. Even his pillow looks all wrong. There’s no dent where his head lays. No smell of him lingering in the air.

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