Page 27 of A Moment for Us
“Josh,” I start to protest.
“Shh, just close your eyes.”
I do as he says and allow myself to settle against him, wrapping my arms around him and resting my head on his shoulder. His lips touch my forehead, and I sink into the moment. The feel of him caring for me, giving me his protection in a way I never thought possible.
We stay like that for God only knows how long, and the medicine starts to work, granting me a reprieve.
I stir, and Josh shifts a little. “Are you okay?”
“It’s better.”
“Do you get these headaches a lot?”
“No. Not for a few months. It was bad when I was working nights, but since my promotion and the stress levels have decreased, it hasn’t happened. Why did you come in here?” I ask.
“Because I was worried.”
I sigh while tucking my hair behind my ears. That’s great that he’s worried, but we should be pretending we are nothing, and that’s going to be harder now that his brother and my best friend know he came in here. My heart wars with my very tired head. “And what are Jessica and Grayson going to think?”
“I don’t give a fuck what they think,” he whispers. “You’re my friend, Delia. Above whatever else has happened between us, I’m not going to sit out there, drinking a beer, while you’re curled up on the floor in pain.”
“I’m sorry. I just . . . I don’t want people to start asking more questions.” Ronyelle knows about what happened, but she’ll never say a word to anyone. She’ll let her disdain of my life choices be known, but she’ll only say it to me.
“No one’s going to say a thing,” he says, cupping my cheek.
“And how did you explain you coming in here?”
His thumb brushes my cheek. “Simple. You’re my friend, and that’s what friends do. Let them assume whatever they want.”
That’s easy for him to say. He’s not the one answering a million questions about the rumors in the town. Or maybe he is, but whatever. It’s always worse for the girl.
If he’s trying to convince anyone that he’s unworthy of someone to love him, he’s doing a piss-poor job of it.
Instead, he’s like a knight in shining armor that I want to mount.
Stupid.
I’m stupid.
Years of longing has amassed into this need to take whatever Josh is offering. To turn him away would be impossible and I’m not sure I can survive it.
But then I think about the other things in my life that people have endured for love.
When my mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was sixteen, she fought hard, beat it, and then had a recurrence right before I was supposed to leave for college. So, I stayed, and I watched her, listened to the stories of regrets she had when she thought she wouldn’t survive.
Only, she did survive, and since then, she’s spent every day doing things she dreamed of. She’s traveling, going back to school, and learning to love herself so that maybe one day she’ll be able to love someone else again.
Me? I’m learning how to fuck things up and use whatever flimsy excuse I can find to hold on to the crumbs he’s offering.
“I’d like to go home,” I say around the emotions raging inside me.
“Okay.”
His hand drops, and he stands before helping me to my feet as well. A long, slow breath eases from Joshua and then we exit the bathroom. The lights are bright, but thankfully, they’re not painful.
“Hey,” Jess says, pushing herself out of the chair when we enter the living room.
“Hey. Josh is going to take me home. I’m sorry I ruined dinner.”
