Page 29 of The Space Between
This is about building.
We’re in her cabin.I’m awake in her bed with her body curled against mine, her cheek on my chest, her arm flung across my stomach like she’s already claimed the space.
She sleeps like she hasn’t in years.
I don’t. I stare at the ceiling and count her breaths. Because now I know what it’s like to have something to lose again. And that scares me more than the crash ever did.
She’s still asleepwhen I leave.
I head back to my own cabin, dress quietly, grab my keys, and walk to work before sunrise. I need to get the rafts ready for the VFW float event this afternoon, after the stunt she pulled yesterday, I didn’t have a chance to do it last night. It’s July 4thweekend, and the river’s going to be packed by the time we open at nine.
But that’s not the real reason I go… I need tothink…to be in motion… to wrap my head around what just happened.
What we did.
What it means.
Because the way she looked at me when I was inside her—when I was buried so deep I couldn’t tell where I ended, and she began—it wrecked me.
I want it again. And again. And again.
But I also want to deserve it.
She deserves that. And I don’t know if I do.
Reece walksin just after 7AM.
I’m stacking lifejackets and listening to old country. He glances at me and tosses his keys onto the counter. “You look like hell.”
I grunt in answer. I’m not in the mood for his shit today. He’s been trying to point me in Blakelyn’s direction since she arrived. If we hadn’t been friends for twenty years, I’d have knocked him out or fired him by now.
He keeps going. “Or maybenot. I mean—your shirt’s oninside out.” He grins and leans against the counter.
I glance down.
Fuck. My shirt is indeed on inside fucking out.
Yanking it off, I flip it, not saying a word.
He chuckles. “Didn’t think you were the type to get laid on a Thursday.”
I freeze and glare at him. His smile drops. “Shit. Sorry, man. That was a joke. I was just fucking with you.”
“She’s not a joke.” I snarl.
“No, man. Of course, she’s not. That’s not…. Shit. I didn’t mean?—”
“She’snota joke.” I snarl.
Reece nods slowly. “Iknow, man. I’m sorry.”
Grabbing a bin of straps, I start loading the back of the truck, slamming them down.
I don’t even know why I’m so pissed.
He didn’t mean it like that. I know he didn’t.
He watches me for a beat, then mutters, “Gruene, I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything or insult her. You know that. I’m just saying… she seems…important.”
