Page 66 of Diluted Truths
She turned to face me but stayed in my arms, “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
“Now what, Sunshine?” I asked as I brushed my thumb across her cheek.
She shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out together.” And damn did that sound perfect.
Chapter 20Love by. Lana Del Rey
Jackie
Waking up in Will’s house was a dream. It took me a moment to get my bearings. I looked around his room which looked completely different in the daylight. I forgot just how wealthy he was and his home showed it. His room was large, but with little furniture. We were on a huge bed with the most comfortable beds. Everything was in soft gray tones; the bedding, the walls, the curtains, the floor…everything. The lack of color highlighted the focal point of the room.One of the walls was entirely glass, which showed the forest he lived within.
After Sarah gave me his address and I made the drive here, I had convinced myself three times that I must have taken a wrong turn. I had been driving on dark streets through a literal forest for at least five miles. There wasn’t another house in sight.
When I finally pulled up to his house, I was shocked. He lived in a literal mansion. It was huge with the greatest views of the trees around his property. In the daylight after the storm it was even more beautiful.
I turned over to find Will sleeping peacefully next to me. He was on his stomach which showed off his tattoos that covered his back. He didn't wear short sleeves often and I had only seen him shirtless one other time so this was really the first solid view I got of his tattoos. They were unique, unexpected even. The fall of Icarus was on his bicep, the hands from the Creation of Adam were on his upper back, he even hadthe punishment for Prometheus tattooed. He was covered in historical references.
It was beautiful.
I slowly stood and stretched wide and tall. I was wonderfully sore from last night's escapades. It was a feeling I could get used to. I wandered into Will’s closet to find a t-shirt to wear and began to wander his home.
The beauty of his home extended into every corner. I wandered through halls and rooms. I had seen a home gym, what I assume was his office, a dining room with a table that could seat probably twenty people, a top of the line kitchen, multiple guest rooms. Each was beautiful and decorated in neutral tones. However, none of it felt lived in. It looked like a model home. Staged to appeal to others. There were no personal touches of Will.
That was at least until I found his library.
It was two stories tall, with a balcony on the second floor. Each wall was lined with hundreds, maybe even thousands of books. There was classic literature, romance, horror, research textbooks, and even some of his own published works. It had an incredibly well-loved couch in the center of the room that sat in front of a fireplace. It was truly the most beautiful room I had seen.
I continued to peruse the books when I noticed something peculiar. He had all of my writings. They were the printed copies of the Fibonacci Files, but with my articles marked. It wasn’t just a few of them, but every single one I had written and published. I began to flip through them and saw that he hadn’t just collected them but read each one. There were notes and annotations written on the side.
“Find something cool?” Will asked, making me jump. He chuckled. “Sorry to scare you. I woke up and you were gone, I was nervous… well, nevermind.”
I set down the article I was looking at, walked towards him and wrapped my arms around his torso. “Nervous I left?’
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, maybe.”
I smiled at his response. He showed the world such a tough and unbreakable exterior, but he was hiding the soft and emotional sides of himself within. “You couldn’t make me. Especially with a library like this.”
I felt his chuckle more than I heard it. “What were you looking at when I came in?”
I looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow. “My articles. Have any explanation for that?”
“Honestly, no,” he said with a smile. “I subscribed to the journal when it first started to support Sarah and when you started writing for it I really resonated with what you wrote. Most of those are from before I even met you.”
I hummed in response.
I had no words for him. He truly blew me away.
He guided us to his kitchen so he could make us breakfast. If my growling stomach had anything to say about it, I was totally ready for some food.
I watched as he gathered the ingredients to make omelets. He was still shirtless with just sweatpants and it was a look I could get used to.
“Coffee?” he asked, interrupting my ogling.
I shook my head. “Don’t like it.”
“You don’t like coffee?” he asked, perplexed.
“Nope. Wasn’t allowed to have it growing up so I never craved it and when I left I couldn’t get used to the taste. I stick with tea for my caffeine fix.”
