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He just wanted that memory to be real.
Bryan was disappearing. Every day he slipped a little further away. He was there in pictures and in stories, but he wasn’t real anymore.
Da
He rolled over and flung his forearm over his eyes as another wave of nausea swept over him. He could hear her in the kitchen, the clinking of silverware and the opening and closing of cabinets as she busied herself, and he wished for the hundredth time that he hadn’t consumed his body weight in liquor last night, because he wanted to be enjoying this.
Leah, in his apartment. In his kitchen, making him breakfast like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She told him he could have whatever time he needed to get his thoughts together, but Da
And when she left him, he was going to feel it. There was no doubt about that now. In the past few hours, she had managed to slip through the last of his defenses and stake her claim on a piece of his heart. Not because she had helped him get home last night, or because she granted him the extra time he needed to explain himself. Not even because she had stayed to help nurse his hangover.
No, what had completely won him over was the way she tried to absolve him of whatever sin he’d committed by offering up her own transgressions. She laid her shame down at his feet without a second thought—for the sole purpose of easing his suffering.
It had been a long time since he’d seen that level of bravery and selflessness in anyone.
And just like that, his world shifted. It had been such a quiet moment of transformation, nothing like the earth-shattering explosions that had changed the course of his life over the past year, but in its tranquility, it was just as powerful. With that one altruistic move, she had managed to become the measure of what a person should be in his eyes, the standard any woman would have to meet if she had even the slightest chance of wi
Da
“You can quit playing sick now,” she said. “I already cleaned up the coffee.”
He smiled as he sat up further and reached for the plate she offered him. “Jesus. How about a little sympathy? I’m dying over here.”
“Oh, you poor baby,” she crooned as she sat on the edge of his bed, tucking her leg beneath her and resting the mug on her knee. She had twisted her hair up into some kind of messy knot that managed to be both adorable and sexy at the same time; it made him want to toss the plate over the side of the bed and pull her down to the mattress so he could cover her body with his.
Instead, he took a breath and sat up fully, balancing the plate on his thigh as he looked down at what she’d made for him.
“What the hell did you put on this toast?”
“My magic cure.”
Da
Leah laughed as she pulled her other leg up onto the bed to face him fully. “It’s mashed banana with a little bit of butter. The salt in the butter will help you retain water, and the bananas have potassium and electrolytes, which you really need right now. Think of it as a sports drink, only without all the sugar that messes with your stomach. Plus, solid food is always a little easier to keep down anyway.”
Da
“Wow,” he said with a nod before he looked up at her. “So, are you a raging alcoholic?”
Leah huffed as she grabbed a pillow and propped it up against his headboard. “I should’ve let you suffer through the Hot Pocket, you ingrate.”
Da
“But how did you know this stuff would work?” he asked before lifting the mug and taking a careful sip, the hot liquid instantly soothing him.
“I didn’t,” she said with a shrug. “It was a lot of trial and error. There were quite a few nasty concoctions before I found this, so you should thank your lucky stars you’re getting me as a seasoned veteran.”
Da
Leah shook her head as she grabbed the remote from his nightstand and turned the TV on. “When you’re finished, I’ll accept your apology in the form of jewelry or designer shoes,” she said, and he laughed around his mouthful of food.
“Hey!” he complained as she flipped right past ESPN.
“Sorry, but it’s not go
Da
“Yes, but I got the remote first. That was always the rule in my house. Besides, you don’t have to pretend you only watch sports. There are no other guys around. Judgment-free zone over here,” she said, gesturing around herself as she continued to cha
“Hmm. That’s actually kind of a relief,” he said, turning back to the TV. “So…porn then?”
She scoffed, waving her hand at him dismissively just as he leaned over to put his plate between them, and the sharp crack of the remote hitting him square in the forehead was immediately followed by Leah’s panicked gasp.
“Oh my God,” she said quickly as she spun toward him, placing her hand over Da
“No porn. Duly noted,” he winced, and she pulled his hand away and replaced it with her own as she rubbed his forehead.
“I am so sorry,” she said through laughter.
“Well, you sound devastated.”
She laughed harder then, and his smile finally broke before he started laughing with her.
Leah ran her fingers over the red mark between his eyes before she reached down and handed him the remote. “You win. We can watch whatever you want. Porn. Sports. And I’ll pretend to love every minute.”
Da
“Well, what would you prefer?”
He kept his eyes on the TV as he started flipping through the cha
“Right.” Leah laughed as she sat back against the headboard. “Because in your current condition, I’m sure you would rock my world.”
Da
He placed the toast back on the plate and glanced over at her; she was staring at the screen, tugging gently on her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed a delicate pink.
“Well, your confidence is still intact, I see,” she mumbled, and he smiled.
It had nothing to do with confidence; it was just that he could picture what it would be like to have her, and he knew without a doubt that once his hands were on her body, everything else in the world would fall away. His hangover, his reservations, his past.