Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
There was a drawn-out moment as a certain gravity hung in the air between them. For Emerson, the gravity was markedly different than it was for Rhys. Rhys most likely felt a bit helpless, and his pride was threatening to rear its ugly head. Or hopefully just grateful that Emerson wasn’t making a big deal of it…even though it felt like a big deal to Emerson for wholly different reasons. Christ.
Emerson wanted to lean in and take his mouth, taste the essence of him. It was excruciating not having the opportunity to explore whatever they had been about to before the accident. It certainly could’ve crashed and burned or not gone anywhere after that. They absolutely were about to put their friendship on the line, so maybe it was all for the best. Not that his misfortune was a good thing.
But Emerson could not soothe the profound ache in his chest when he looked at his battered and bruised—and beautiful—friend, nor the ache to touch Rhys in a meaningful way. Instead, he’d feed him and care for him and let him know he wasn’t alone.
It was the best he could do in a terrible situation.
11
Rhys
Emerson still seemed tense and flustered around him, but when he’d fed Rhys his dinner? Jesus. He didn’t even know how to feel about that. Rhys had been mortified, but he’d also desperately welcomed the intimacy of the act because he was feeling unsettled and Emerson was like an anchor to a drifting ship. In many ways it was like they were starting over again, as though their friendship was hanging in the balance, which didn’t make a lick of sense. Had something happened between them before the accident? Had they begun growing apart?
Regardless, it was comforting having Emerson there, along with Sam and Audrey. They were good for comic relief as well as needed distraction.
After dinner, they all settled on the couch, Emerson absently flicking around the television channels.
“Have we started any new series together?” Rhys asked. It was the one thing he remembered them doing, binging cool shows together, mostly at Emerson’s house. That brought him a certain comfort, the idea of some things remaining the same when everything else felt so unnerving.
When Emerson didn’t reply right away, he noticed him looking to Sam and Audrey for a response.
“We were in the middle of the third season of Stranger Things.” Audrey nodded toward the screen, and Emerson brought up the program on Netflix.
Relief flooded him. He was pretty certain he remembered this show.
“Is there a character named Eleven?”
“Yes!” Sam fist-bumped the air. “You’ve watched every season with us.”
“Why don’t we start from the beginning so Rhys gets a refresher?”
“No, you don’t have to—” Rhys started in a frustrated tone. How many things would be this way? How many little things would he come upon that he couldn’t remember or had to be reminded about?
“It would help us too,” Sam pointed out. “I haven’t been able to remember a couple of the details about the Upside Down.”
Upside down. Perfect description for how he was feeling. “If you’re sure.”
“Let’s do it,” Audrey said, and Emerson hit Play while Audrey settled beside Rhys on the couch. When she leaned into him his arm ached—which was his fault for missing his last dose of meds—but he was enjoying the closeness anyway. They used to cuddle like this, he recalled, and the feeling of familiarity was awesome.
After two episodes, which were recognizable to Rhys, thank fuck, Emerson got the kids to sleep, then stood guard outside the bathroom as Rhys took a leak, and helped him to bed.
When he reached for the pill bottle and water on the nightstand, wincing in pain, he appreciated that Emerson refrained from commenting.
He wrestled his sheets, unable to get comfortable even though he felt exhausted.
“Feeling antsy?” Emerson asked in a hesitant voice. “You ready to get back on the horse, so to speak?”
“Nah, not yet.” Rhys wavered, swallowing down those anxious feelings creeping back up. “If I could only remember the accident, I might be able to figure out what happened. I mean, Martin said it was a rockslide and out of my control. But I want to know if I was preoccupied or positioned wrong, so I don’t make the same mistake again.”
When he glanced up, Emerson was gaping at him.
“What?”
“I…I dunno. That’s the most uncertain I’ve ever heard you,” Emerson replied, looking flustered. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never been afraid of jumping in with both feet. Skateboarding, climbing, parachuting, you name it. Used to scare the shit out of our parents.”
Rhys nodded, knowing he’d worried them, but he’d been unable to stop himself. It was in his blood. But now he was getting a taste of that fear he’d inadvertently doled out in heaping spoonfuls. “And you’ve been exasperated with me on more than one occasion.”