Page 48 of Tell Me When It's Over

“Leighton, I—”

“It’s not up to you, Kyler,” I point out. I’m not saying it out of pettiness. It’s fact. He can’t protect me from everything. My eyes stay on Gordy as I give him a smile. “Tell me, oh wise one, when this post should be made and put up.”

“Sooner rather than later.”

“Wise one,” Ky grumbles, standing. “I want food. You guys cool with Chinese? It’s too hot to cook, but I can order in.”

Neither of us protests, so he heads into the kitchen to grab one of the menus hanging from the fridge door.

Tucking my legs under me, I stare at my lap and try ignoring the eyes I feel from across the room. “Cut him some slack, Len.”

“Why should I?” I grouch, not wanting to.

“Because he’s a dude.” A grin tugs at his lips, and that tint of humor dances in his light eyes. “And we’re morons when it comes to most things, but especially women.”

I try hard not to snicker because I can’t argue with him there, but I can’t help it. My lips waver and that stupid sound, the one of defeat, escapes my mouth.

“He cares,” he adds, after his own quiet laughter eases between us. “Sometimes, a little too much.”

If I didn’t know Kyler, I wouldn’t understand what Gordy means. I do though. Ky has a strong sense of devotion to people he cares about. The list is small. He has his moments like the rest of us, but those moments can be cruel because…well, because I care a lot about him too. And nobody takes it well when the people they love show a semblance of flawed humanity, because it means they’re not as perfect as we like to believe they are.

So, I do forgive Kyler.

Reluctantly.

The three of us eat Chinese for dinner and put on a movie about aliens that I zone out of because I’m busy watching Kyler, whose lap I’m using as a footrest again. He’s content, less rigid, with his palm resting on my bare, freshly shaven leg, and it makes me hunker down for the night because we’re back to normal. The way we should be.

He catches me staring and gives me a crooked smile, half his lips quirking up and making him look…youthful. Carefree. Like there isn’t anything to worry about outside of this room. Squeezing my calf, he dips his chin at me as if to say, We good? I smile at him, feeling my chest tighten a little over the day’s events, but nod in return regardless.

I’m not sure when I fall asleep, but two strong arms pick me up and cradle me to an equally strong chest at some point.

“Nah, I got her,” a familiar voice whispers near my ear. Gordy must have asked him if he needed help moving me. “Damned if I’m going to let her sleep on the couch. Thing is uncomfortable.”

It is pretty uncomfortable. Unless you have someone to use as a cushion like I did Kyler.

He carries me upstairs and gently places me in bed, pressing a kiss to my cheek in goodnight, except it lasts longer than usual, and his breath stirs the sleepiness fogging my brain.

“Sleep tight, Lele,” he whispers, and I offer him an incoherent reply back that sounds something like “you too”.

His chuckle is light as he walks out, the creak of the floorboards under his weight fading as he closes the door and heads back downstairs.

It’s only after I shift, burying my face in the pillow that I realize he didn’t put me in my bed. He put me in his.

Something happens when I fall back asleep.

I dream about Kyler.

His kiss on my cheek.

The way it lingers.

His warmth.

But it’s…different.

And different is dangerous.

Chapter Fourteen

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