Page 27 of Defect
“I really feel…different.”
“That’s good,” I smiled, rubbing the back of his hand. “Different good or bad?”
“Good. Definitely good. I feel normal.”
“That’s great to hear, Ezra.” I stood between his legs and gave him a hug. His strong arms wrapped around me like he was scared he’d break me. Neither one of us wanted to let go of the other one. His hands slid down to my hips and he held me there for a moment. I wasn’t complaining but I had no business letting him put his hands there.
“See? Reiki isn’t bad, right?”
“Not bad at all. Thank you, Solana.” I moved away from his touch and smiled.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for letting me try it out on you.”
“How much does it cost to get regular sessions?” He asked. I looked at him and had a brilliant idea. “Wow, what’s making you smile like that? You’re lighting up.”
“Hear me out,” I said, holding my hands up. “You don’t go to school during the day currently, right?”
“Right,” he nodded.
“You want regular sessions daily?”
“I do.” He nodded his head and wet his lips with his tongue, throwing my train of thought completely off. Dammit, he was sexy.
“Well um…” I squeezed my eyes shut to remember what I was going to say. “I need some help here in the studio. Just help cleaning up after classes and registering new clients. Nothing serious. I’ll pay you and give you free Reiki.”
“Done.” He nodded.
“You’ll work here?” I clasped my hands together and grinned.
“Of course. I get to get out of the fucking house every day and I get to see you…my new friend.” He threw that last part in there to be slick but I let it slide because he was doing me a huge favor and because he was cute as hell.
“Thank you, Ezra. You have no idea how much you’re helping me out. It takes me hours to get out of the studio in the evenings. With you helping, I can cut that in half.” Logic told me not to hug him but the rush of happiness coursing through me pushed me against his hard body.
“You’re a hugger,” he said, patting my back.
“I am. I’m sorry. I’ll back off.”
“Nah. Don’t.” He stared at me and my heart sped up. I licked my lips and he honed in on me. His narrowed gaze made it hard to breathe. Did he have to stare at my lips that way? It made me dizzy. “So can you show me exactly what I’ll be doing around here?”
“Yes. Come with me.” I showed him around the studio first then I showed him how to register new classes, and new one-on-one clients. I also showed him how to check emails and the proper way to clean the studio after sessions.
“I can’t pay you much but I’ll definitely pay you weekly,” I told him.
“Anything is fine, Solana. I’m so stuck at home that I’d take five dollars an hour if it meant I got to do something other than stare at my wall.”
“I don’t understand why you’re stuck in the house. You just moved somewhere new. Get out and explore. Drive around. Come up to the community college and take some classes. Radcliff is small but there’s a ton of stuff to do.”
“One day when you have a bunch of time to do nothing, I’ll tell you about my mother. Long story short though, I’m not allowed to leave the house while she’s at work. Do I listen? No.”
“Wait…what?” I laughed. I had to be hearing him wrong. “You’re eighteen, right? You don’t even have to live at home. I mean, you’re still in school but…”
“I’m not in school anymore.”
“Right but you know what I mean. Besides school, there’s no reason for you to live at home unless you want to.”
“Because of my brain trauma I won’t be able to live alone, drive, or do any of the shit I used to do before,” he said. I shook my head in disbelief.
“Ezra, maybe I’m not understanding the depth of your injury but I’ve been with you most of the day and you seem fine. You actually seem more mature than ninety percent of boys your age.”
