Page 39 of Perfect Convergence

When I come back into the living area, Wren is sitting on the couch with her chin propped on her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. She’s so far gone to the world that she jumps when I drape a blanket around her shoulders.

“You can sleep here. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep. If I leave the room, I won’t go far. I promise.”

She hugs the pillow I hand to her. “Thank you, Rhett.”

Kneeling next to the couch, I take her hands in mine, pressing my lips to her fingertips. I’d hold her while she falls asleep, but I don’t want to disturb her when I inevitably get up at some point. And I don’t know how much more touching I can handle tonight. “I’m proud of how well you handled everything today, sweetheart.”

“Rhett,” she whispers.

“Hmm?”

“Kiss me.”

Tangling my fingers in her hair, I capture her mouth with mine. She grabs my arms to hold me close to her, matching the desperation that bleeds into every one of my movements.

I know I’m not everything you need. But I’ll never stop working to be. I don’t want to lose you.

When I break off the kiss, she gasps in a breath.

“Wren,” I murmur, barely opening my eyes to take in the sleepy, content look on her face. And then my mouth is on hers again, and I’m wondering if, with this kiss, I can communicate all the words I can’t seem to force out of my mouth.

Her little sighs warm my heart, soothing the ache in my chest that appears whenever I think of Sammy. This time, she moves away first, her fingers tracing lines over my face. When she yawns, I push her down onto the couch.

“How are your cramps? Do you need pain meds? Or water?”

After I realized on Monday how little I know about periods, I spent the better part of the day reading every article on them that I could get my hands on. Drinking enough water seems to be pretty important.

“I should probably have some water, yeah.”

I grab her a glass, and after she takes a couple sips, I set it on the coffee table. “Sleep, Wren. I’ll be here if you wake up.”

With a moan, she pulls the blankets over her body, wiggling deep into the cushions. “You promise?”

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ELLIOT

WHEN I WAKE, Oliver is still sleeping, clutching me to him like I might disappear at any moment. I brush my fingers down his arm. He doesn’t stir.

His panic attack last night was concerning to say the least. Not only was the timing potentially dangerous, but it’s also the first one he’s had in a long time. Which has me wondering if he stopped taking his meds again.

I have a feeling I know just what triggered him to do it.

“Ol.” I give him a little shake.

He groans, his hold on me loosening. Then his fingers dig into my skin and his eyes fly wide open. When he sees me, alive and unharmed and next to him, he relaxes, whispering, “Thank fuck.”

I give him a chaste kiss before sitting up. “We should get moving. There’s supposed to be a snowstorm around two, and I want to make sure we miss it.”

With a yawn, he rolls over, looking at the clock on the nightstand. It’s a little after eight. “I should probably shower.”

We get up, brushing our teeth before Oliver turns on the shower, and I step into the hallway. The smell of coffee drifts from the kitchen, and my stomach growls. With everything that happened last night, I forgot to eat dinner. Hell, we all did.

In the living area, I find a full pot of coffee ready and waiting. After pouring myself a mug, I look around. The place is empty. So where are—

“Oh god. Oh god.”

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