Coming Home

“No, I won’t,” she said softly. “I’ll stay here if you want me to.”

Da

She pulled her brow together, waiting for him to go on, but he simply sat there, ru

Leah brought her hand back to the side of his face, and he lifted his gaze. “I’m go

He looked down at the bottle and then back up at her, his expression softening.

“It might help a little. For tomorrow,” she said with a shrug.

Da

“Okay, you need to lie down now,” she said, taking the bottle from his hand, and just as she was about to stand from the bed, he brought both of his hands to the sides of her face, his fingers sliding behind her ears as his thumbs caressed her cheeks.

Leah froze, lifting her eyes to his, and for the first time that night, they seemed completely at peace.

“My sweet girl,” he whispered, and then his lips were on hers.

Compared to the explosiveness of their last kiss, this was a slow burn; Da

And then he lay back onto the mattress, his hands slipping from her face as he threw his forearm over his eyes.

Leah brought both hands to the bed as she closed her eyes, exhaling a long, quivering breath.

Holy. Shit.

She had no idea how long she sat there trying to pull herself back together, but eventually she stood, grabbing the comforter at the foot of the bed and pulling it up over him.

He didn’t move, and Leah exhaled in relief; he was finally asleep.

She walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled the trash can a bit closer to him as she placed his bottle of water on the bedside table.

“Good night, Da

She stood in the middle of the room, contemplating her options. Driving home at nearly four in the morning wasn’t really something she was looking forward to. Plus, she had told him she would stay the night.

Although chances were, he wasn’t going to remember that.

Leah’s eyes moved from the front door to the couch, where a large afghan was draped over the back of the cushions.

“Oh, screw it,” she mumbled, walking to his front door and locking it before she picked up his keys from the floor and placed them on the little table in the entryway. She went back to the living room and kicked off her shoes as she grabbed one of the throw pillows and propped it against the arm of the couch.

It was more comfortable than she thought it would be, and she reached up and grabbed the afghan, flipping onto her side as she curled herself into it.

Her body was completely exhausted, but her mind was on overdrive. She wanted so badly to make sense of everything that had just happened. She wanted to know what had caused him to drink so heavily. She wanted to know why he was trying so hard to stay away from her if he was attracted to her. She wanted to analyze his words, his actions, until she could rid herself of the confusion and apprehension coursing through her body.

She wanted to think about all of that, but the only thing her mind would focus on was that kiss, and the look in his eyes as he called her his sweet girl.

And so eventually she stopped trying to think of anything else and surrendered, replaying that moment over and over, letting it lull her to sleep.

Leah opened her eyes to the u

The clock on the cable box said eleven forty-six.

“Jesus,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes before she stood from the couch and threw the afghan over the back of it again. After placing the throw pillow back where it belonged, she sat on the arm of the couch, chewing on her bottom lip as details of the night came flooding back to her.

Da

Leah ran her hands down her face as she exhaled, and then she stood from the couch and padded over to the doorway of his bedroom. She leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at him.

He was lying on his stomach with his head turned away from her, his arms up at his sides and his hands shoved under the pillow. Leah noticed that the bottle of water on the nightstand was empty, and she tiptoed over to the pail, cringing as she peeked inside.

All clear.

Her shoulders dropped in relief, and she watched the rise and fall of his back for another minute before she left his bedroom.

Leah went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, using some toothpaste on her finger to brush her teeth as best she could.

When she was through, she walked back out to the living room and stood in the center of it.

She didn’t know what she should do.

She didn’t want to just leave without talking to him about everything, but she knew he needed sleep right now. She couldn’t hang around his apartment all day waiting for him to wake up, and even if she could, trying to have a serious conversation with someone who was hung over was just a bad idea, plain and simple.

But she did need to talk to him. She needed to make sense of everything once and for all, because as much as he’d told her last night, so much was still left unsaid. If anything, Leah felt more confused than she was before he confessed his feelings to her.

Go home. Call him tomorrow, after he’s had some time to recover.

With a plan in place, Leah felt a little better as she stepped into her shoes and sca

As Leah tossed the bottle in the trash, her eye landed on his coffee maker, and she decided she would set up a pot of coffee for him before she left.

She opened a few cabinets, finding the coffee on the third try, and just as she brought it to the counter and popped off the lid, she gasped.

Realization washed over her, bringing a rush of nausea with it as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

How could she not have seen it earlier?

“I had no right to ask you out.”

“I can’t see you. It’s not fair to you.”

“I lied to you.”

And then, something he had said to her a while back:

“I don’t have a girlfriend, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Leah stood there unmoving, the lid of the coffee still in her hand.

It was so obvious.

How close had she come to being the other woman? There was some girl out there who was with Da