Page 56 of Heart Strain

21

Holden

Jameson glances at Drix and sees him asleep, so he leans over and places a gentle kiss on my lips. It’s soft and sweet and makes butterflies go off in my stomach as my heart warms to him even more. For the past three days, he’s been sneaking in little kisses like this every time Drix falls asleep and constantly when we’re alone in the car or at his house.

He cups my cheek and deepens the kiss a little, but we both freeze when Drix says, “No making out in front of me; it’s gross.”

I chuckle against Jameson’s lips before he pulls away a little. He gazes into my eyes with a smile and rubs my cheek with his thumb, then pulls away to eye Drix. “You were sleeping.”

“I was resting my eyes.”

“Uh huh. For twenty minutes?”

Drix glares at him a little, then looks between us and says, “This is weird.”

I chew on my lip and shrug. “Too bad?”

My brother rolls his eyes, but smiles so I know he’s just giving us crap about it and not actually grossed out or annoyed with us.

Before he can say anything else, my phone rings. When I see that it’s Gavin calling, I frown and say, “I need to take this,” then I stand and walk to the corner of the room so Drix and Jameson can continue their conversation without me bothering them. “Hello? Is everything okay?” Gavin usually texts before calling me to make sure I’m not at the hospital.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Um… where are you right now?”

“At the hospital. We’re probably leaving soon to grab dinner. Why? What’s up?”

“Do you think… can you go home…? There’s a surprise waiting for you there.”

My brow furrows. “Uh, you got me something?”

“Yeah. But you have to go get it now.”

“Um… okay, hold on.” I pull the phone away and say to Jameson, “Do you mind if we run to my parents’ house in a minute? Gavin said there’s something waiting for me there.”

“Sure. I’ll pack up the cards now.” Jameson starts collecting all our crap.

When I shoot my brother a questioning look, he shrugs and says, “No worries. I’ll have to see your ugly mug all day tomorrow, too.”

“You see this ugly mug every time you look in the mirror, buttface.” I wave him off and put the phone up to my ear. “Alright, I’m getting ready to head out. Why did you send me something?”

“You’ll see.”

I frown. “Are you okay, Gav? You sound weird.”

He sighs. “I’m fine. I just miss you.”

“I know, me too.”

I hang up the phone, and Jameson and I leave the hospital after hugging my brother. I feel a little bad leaving early, but Drix insists he’s fine, and really, it was almost time to go anyway.

When Jameson pulls in front of my parents’ old house, I grin widely and jump out of the car before he has a chance to put it in park. Running up the sidewalk, I call out, “You should’ve told me you were coming!”

Gavin grins at me and rushes over to crush me in a bear hug. I embrace him back just as tightly, and he tucks his head down on my shoulder. He hugs me for a long time, and I can tell that he’s upset, so I don’t pull away.

“I wanted to surprise you, but I didn’t run into as much traffic as I thought I would, so I got here a little early,” he says quietly before releasing me.

“I’m glad you’re here,” I say, meaning it.

He grins at me, and I take a moment to look him over. He’s got bags under his eyes and he looks a little pale. He hasn’t been sleeping, and from the looks of it, he hasn’t been eating, either.

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