Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Not that I wanted to overthink this, the way I overthought everything. It was too soon to ask where this was going. I just needed to relax and take things one day at a time.
When bedtime rolled around, I said good night to Sam and gave him a hug before heading to my room. It had made sense to sleep in separate bedrooms when I’d mentioned it earlier. He probably wanted some privacy, and some time to himself. But I regretted suggesting it within two minutes of climbing under the covers.
The house was way too quiet, and the darkness was unnerving. It was never that dark or that quiet in the city. More than that, I missed Sam—his company, his body heat, all of him. It would be so much better if we were sharing a bed. I didn’t want to seem clingy though, so I stayed where I was.
Five minutes later, a light knock pulled me out of my thoughts. When I called, “Come in,” Sam opened the door and stuck his head in.
“I don’t want to seem clingy,” he said, “but I miss you. Also, it’s way too fucking quiet here, and it’s creeping me out.”
“I was thinking the same thing!”
I slid over and held up the blanket, and he climbed into bed with me. As we snuggled together, he whispered, “This is so much better.” It really was.
CHAPTER 14
SAM
It felt great to wake up beside Andy again. I’d tried to talk myself out of coming to his room the night before, because I didn’t want to seem needy. But I’d caved just a few minutes after we went to bed, and I was so glad I did. He was so warm and cuddly, and I loved the way he burrowed into my arms when he was just starting to wake up.
We lingered in bed for a while, before finally getting up and starting our day with some yoga. Andy took his job as my instructor very seriously, demonstrating each pose before guiding me as I attempted to replicate it. I was nowhere near as flexible as he was, and it turned out my balance was awful, but I gave it my all.
Finally, after about forty minutes, I released the last pose and tackled him. He chuckled as I kissed his stomach, which had been exposed when his T-shirt rode up. Then he asked, “Did you hate every minute of that?”
“I hated feeling uncoordinated. But I liked everything else, especially the eye candy.”
“What eye candy?”
I propped my head up with one hand and raised a brow. “You, of course. Your body is gorgeous, and your strength is sexy.”
“I’m not strong. Not like you.”
“Sure you are. You might have a leaner build than I do, but you’re powerful. That’s why you were able to hold those poses ten times longer than I could.”
“I’ve just had more practice.”
“You’re terrible at taking a compliment.”
“I know.” He got up and said, “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Me, too. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes.”
Andy and I headed off in different directions, and after we both showered and got dressed, we made breakfast together. We were in sync as we moved around the kitchen, as if we’d been a couple for years and had done this a million times. There was something very comforting about that.
After we ate and cleaned up, we brought mugs of coffee out to the deck and settled onto a pair of Adirondack chairs. Over breakfast, he’d told me we could work on developing his superpower, so I said, “Before we start, can we talk about the times you lost control of your power?”
“Do we have to?”
“I think understanding it is an important part of learning to control it. Don’t you?”
He frowned and moved his glasses to the top of his head. “You’re right. It’s just hard to talk about it. Losing control of my power was always humiliating, especially when I was younger.”
“I’m not here to judge you, Andy. I’m here to help.”
He murmured, “I know,” and turned his gaze to the mountains in the distance. I had no idea if he could actually see them without his glasses. After a moment, he told me, “The most embarrassing incident happened at my high school graduation. It was right after the speeches, when they were getting ready to call us up to the stage one by one for our diplomas. My mind wandered, and the next thing I knew, I’d summoned what looked like every seagull in San Francisco. The crowd freaked out. They jumped up and were running and shouting. That startled the birds, so they started shitting on everyone.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from chuckling, and Andy glanced at me. “Go ahead and laugh. If I hadn’t been the one to cause it, I would have found it hilarious. Instead, I was mortified. Everyone was so angry at me. Worst of all, it happened in front of my dad. It was the first and last time he visited.”