Page 27 of There's No Us Without You
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I shake my head and kick my own door closed again.
I fall back onto my bed, shoving a hand under my head, the other on my chest. I’ve never wanted to know another woman the way I want to know Eden.
To know what she hates, what she loves. Her favourite colour. What sort of toothpaste she uses.
Everything.
The dull ache in my knee subsides as the pain killers kick in, so I reach over and switch off my lamp before pulling the covers up to my waist.
With the exhaustion I’m feeling, sleep should come easy. Except all I end up doing is staring at the ceiling, my eyes eventually adjusting to the darkness.
When the soundof gut-wrenching sobbing filters through the walls, my eyes snap open and I blink against the darkness. I roll over and tap my phone on the bedside table. It lights up, and I squint as the brightness blinds me. It feels like minutes, but the time tells me it’s been an hour since Eden was in here.
I don’t even remember falling asleep.
Blinking back the spots in my eyes, I climb from the bed and head out into the hallway.
When I reach the door to Eden’s room, I hesitate with my hand on the doorknob.
Should I just walk in? Knock? Knock and then walk in?
What the fuck do I do here?
The door to Will’s bedroom opens, his face appearing seconds later. Seems Eden’s crying woke him too—I’ve never met anyone who, when in a deep sleep, needs a baseball bat to the head to wake.
“What the fuck is going on?” he says around a yawn as he blinks a few times.
I shrug. “Fucked if I know. I’ll check on her. You go back to sleep.”
He stares at me for a second, then his gaze travels down my bare chest to my stomach... and lower.
Nope. I’m not doing that weird thing where we eye each other for an uncomfortable amount of time. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Will was checking me out. Not that I haven’t done the same to him over the last couple of months—usually on the sly. It’s just I’m not ready to admit there might be something more than friendship between us.
I clear my throat, making Will jump.
“Right,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just keep it down.” His door closes moments later, leaving me to stare at the back of it.
Silence has taken over again. I breathe out slowly, dropping my hand from the doorknob. Maybe Eden doesn’t need a shoulder to cry on after all.
But then her soft sobs start up again, almost cracking my chest wide open with the amount of pain seeping through the walls.
Now I can’t leave her.
I barge into the room—not bothering to knock—to find her thrashing around on the bed, the sheets kicked to the floor. Thesoft glow of the lamp on the bedside table gives me a glimpse of her tear-stained cheeks and pink nose.
She’s also still asleep.
This has to be some sort of nightmare situation—sleep crying? I’ve heard you shouldn’t wake someone when they’re sleepwalking. Does that apply here too?
Maybe. Although I can’t just leave her like this.
It takes three of my long strides to reach the side of her bed, and I grasp her shoulders, giving them a slight shake. “Eden?” I whisper. “Wake up.”
A swinging arm comes flying at me and a fist connects with my nose. The impact sends me stumbling back a couple of steps while I blink away the immediate tears from the sting of her fist.
Shit.
The woman can throw a punch, I’ll give her that. I scrunch my nose and sniff. There’s no blood, so it can’t be broken. Still hurts like a motherfucker, though.
