Page 88 of Playing with Fire

He turned off his light, but I noticed a persistent glow from his side of the bed.

I want to sleep this way but it's impossible for me. I take deep breaths before turning around to find out why he's still awake using his phone.

My chest becomes heavy without any apparent cause. He reviews his Snapchat and views every snap he received throughout the day. To watch him open every snap he received had to be the ultimate dream for any guy.

Snapchat messages from girls revealed full-face pictures and varied looks including dresses, party outfits and half-exposed cleavage.

He remained completely unaffected by everything happening around him. It was clear to me that he showed no interest in the significant effort these girls put into capturing appealing photos.

After building up enough nerve to touch him he looked my way when I tapped his shoulder.

"Do you mind...I kinda want to sleep." I tell him. "Or at least, turn your brightness down." I offer hesitantly.

As he remained silent, I was nearly ready to turn away to rest but he suddenly pulled me closer. My eyes fix on him while I lift myself onto my forearm.

"I'm sorry." he starts. I apologize for blowing up at you during our car ride. I don't..." he trails off.

"I get it. I understand that you don't want to discuss it right now and that's completely okay. I finished his sentence for him.

Or so. I was about to tell you I didn't want to see you cry before deciding on this work too. When he shares a little joke, I find myself laughing.

"Well, thanks for your consideration, Rowan. It's appreciated." When his phone screen illuminate I noticed his eyebrow was out of place. As his gaze meets mine, I redirect the hair by brushing it correctly. "Sorry, sorry.

They were going the wrong way." I defend my actions.

The moment I saw him took a picture I looked at his phone and my hand brushed his eyebrow while covering his face. I could not determine what to think when it remained there, but a ridiculous thought popped into my head.

I paused for a moment before choosing not to proceed with my plan. We were finally starting to find normalcy again and I didn't want to reverse our progress by causing problems.

"Em?" He calls my name.

"Hmm?" I hum, coming back to my senses.

"You're staring at my phone." he laughs.

"Oh-uh, sorry."

"No. What were you thinking about?' he asks me like some psychic.

I struggle to give him a response. I find it hard to bring up the idea at this moment. "It was nothing-"

As soon as he says my name he says "Emerson," my mouth closes tight. What random thought did your brain up there create?

I stare at his screen as my lips open briefly and quickly close again. "Can I?" I extended my Hazeld to take his phone and ask him.

He nods and gives it to me. My eyes fixate on the image before me as I consider whether to proceed. Sighing, I decide, fuck it.

I clicked the arrow to select all necessary recipients then removed people who should not receive this photo. That meant JAMIE,

Camden, and Elijah. After excluding JAMIE, Camden, and Elijah from the photo I sent it and then gave him his phone back.

He displays his annoying little smirk while he turns his device off and connects it to the charger. "You are an interesting girl, Em."

I threw my hands up and said, "You know who can handle your nonsense? Me."

"I don't even do anything." He blurts out a blatant lie.

"Jaxon. As soon as I began speaking about-"I couldn't complete my sentence because a loud unexpected roar of thunder interrupted me. The sudden loud noise shocked me so badly I jumped in fright. "Jesus Christ." With a hand placed on my chest I take a breath.

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