Page 84 of Brick Wall
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I wake up warm. Bash is spooning me, his beard teasing my neck. Also, he’s still naked.
I move my body a little closer to him and turn my head to see his face. His eyes are closed, and he has an adorable, content smile while he’s sleeping.
He must feel my eyes on him since he wakes up a few seconds later.
“Hey,” he says sleepily.
“Hey yourself.” I snuggle in. “How are you feeling?”
I didn’t want to disturb him too much last night as he didn’t appear to have obvious symptoms.
“Uh,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “What?” His voice is still groggy because he’s a half-asleep teddy bear right now.
“You weren’t feeling well last night and had to leave the holiday party?” I remind him. “Are you feeling a little better now?”
He sits up straight with a sudden jerk. He’s more awake and alert now.
“Uh, yeah,” he says, rubbing his face. “What are you doing here?” he questions, sounding a little more serious than usual.
“I wanted to make sure that you were okay.” After a beat of awkward silence, I ask, “Is that all right?”
“Uh, yeah, of course. Did you have a good night? How was the rest of the party?”
“Oh, I don’t know, actually. I left a few minutes after you,” Iadmit.
“You did?” He seems genuinely surprised by my answer. “Why didn’t you stay and have a good time? That’s what I wanted.”
I don’t know why that last sentence he states rubs me the wrong way. That’s what he wanted?
“Well, what I wanted,” I say with a little extra sass, “was to make sure you were okay.”
“Okay,” is all he says. He’s not ice cold to me, but he’s not exactly warm either. He’s neutral, and it’s a little unsettling.
“I’m doing okay,” he says after a minute of silence between us.
“What time do you need to be at the stadium today?”
“Ten.” His body is turned to the side with his eyes staring at the light switch on the other side of the room.
I look at the clock on his end table, which reads a little after seven thirty.
“Okay. Do you need any medicine or water or anything?”
“No, thanks. I think I’m going to take a shower and then go in early,.” His tone is gruff, and his posture is stiff.
“All right, I’ll just…” I point awkwardly at the wall. I have no idea what I mean, really. I feel unwelcome here for the first time and don’t know why.
Am I missing something?
It’s hard to fix something when you don’t know what it is that’s actually broken…if anything.
Chapter Forty-Three
Annie
“Hey!” Goldie says coming out of the bathroom, drying her golden hair with a towel.
