Page 365 of The First Time
I clear my throat. "And what are you offering? Anything better than the world?"
His lips curl into a smile and then—thank God I'm sitting, because my knees go weak—he laughs.
It's a belly laugh. A perfect laugh. His eyes light up and that little dimple appears on his check.
He brushes a hair from my eyes.
His breath warms my ear as he leans closer. "Much better than the world."
"And what's that."
He nods to a box tucked away on the bookshelf. Chess. "The chance for victory."
"Yeah?"
"Unless you're afraid of a challenge."
You mean like surviving the next few months with Blake without falling to pieces? "Never."
He sets the game up on the coffee table. We play a dozen times. Same handicap for Blake—no queen. I manage to win a few times. But the truth is, my mind isn't on the strategy.
It's on him. His fingers gliding over the pieces, over his chin as he thinks. The cute look of frustration when he loses a piece. The way his eyes get big and bright. A new idea, something to excite him.
His smile.
That dimple on his cheek.
His laugh.
His perfect laugh.
My heart races. All this nervous energy over a board game. It's not like me. I hold my own with people yelling in my face, with six tables who all need me at once, with no way to pay next month's bills.
I hold my own.
"I should really get to bed." I yawn dramatically to sell my story.
Blake presses his lips into mine. "I'll go with you."
He's going tosleepwith me? My nod is quick. Enthusiastic. My next step is closer to a skip.
I brush my teeth and change into a pair of pajamas from the dresser. My size, my style. I don't even care how he got them, who bought them.
Only that they're here.
That we're both here.
He pulls me onto his bed. His lips brush mine. It's softer and sweeter than any of our previous kisses.
He holds me until I fall asleep.
He holds me like he loves me.
* * *
I wake up cold.No arms around me. No one else in the bed. The apartment is quiet. Empty.
There's a note on the counter:
