Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
And his expression was...
Summer didn’t think he’d ever seen Fox with his expression so relaxed, so gentle, calm and at peace.
Completely transfixed on what he was doing, Fox worked his hands with a quiet, knowing deftness, a delicate touch, constant rhythm stopped only by a pause to add a leaf plucked here, a sprinkle of something dried there. His lips were subtly curled in a soft, thoughtful smile, his eyes half-lidded, gleaming like captured moonlight, the shadows and light from the window falling over him in soft gray shades to make him a misty, ghostly thing, ethereal and silent.
And Summer had never seen him more beautiful.
Not even when he arched over Summer in a moment of captured pleasure did he look so serene, so...content.
And it hurt, in the strangest way. Lovely and odd and hollow all at once, when Summer loved to see Fox like this—open, unguarded, and doing something that clearly made him happy when he’d seemed so determined to punish himself with misery for so very long.
It just ached that...
That Fox had never looked at him that way.
That Summer couldn’t make him happy that way, and instead just seemed to bring Fox more and more trouble, more and more heartache.
He shouldn’t look at it that way. It was selfish—but then Summer himself was so very selfish, for clinging so tight to what he craved so desperately with a man who clearly only tolerated him because it was easier not to argue; easier to indulge him.
It felt like a knot lived in the back of Summer’s throat lately, one he couldn’t ignore every time he stopped letting himself believe in hope and remembered just what their situation was. A casual arrangement. A dalliance. A way to pass the time until Fox could escape Albin...
Escape him.
And that knot in Summer’s throat grew to the size of a fist, as he stepped backward soundlessly, slipping from the room to return to bed.
And leaving Fox to his peace, without Summer there to intrude.
* * *
Fox still hadn’t returned to bed by the time Summer woke on his own without an alarm the next morning.
He had a moment of panic—until he remembered it was Saturday.
But he curled up on his side for long minutes, just staring at the empty half of the bed, and wondered if Fox had even come back last night and Summer had just slept through it, or...
Or if Fox was avoiding him.
He was starting to think the latter, when he dragged himself up to shower and there was no sign of Fox anywhere; the scent of mint still lingered, though not as strong or overpowering, but his tools and herbs had been put away.
But there were several fresh muffins left warming in the oven for Summer.
No note this time, but...
This was starting to become routine.
And he smiled to himself as he settled in to read the news on his phone over breakfast, before ducking himself into the shower and then dressing and heading out into town. He’d promised his mother he’d stop in today, both to help with the yard and just to visit; considering she was half the reason he’d moved back, she’d been remarkably adamant about insisting she didn’t need anything, no no, get settled in, don’t worry about her.
But she was all smiles, as Summer parked outside her house and stepped out—and she came tumbling out to meet him again. That was just how Lily Hemlock was; why wait for guests to arrive when she could be so very happy to see anyone who came to her door that she just went rushing out to greet them?
“Summer.” She grasped him in a tight hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him, then laughed when he grunted, wiggling his fingers, arms trapped against his sides. “I missed you.”
“You kept telling me not to come,” he protested with a laugh.
“Oh, you know, I know you’re getting settled in, and so much work to get used to—I didn’t want to be a bother.” She swatted his chest lightly, then caught his hand and nearly dragged him inside. “It doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you.”
Summer just smiled down at her fondly, letting himself be ushered into the house. “I missed you too, Mom. And I’m here all day, if you need me.”
“Don’t say that or I’ll put you to work in the garden.” Her eyes glittered as she glanced at him, then pushed him toward one of the kitchen chairs. “Let me feed you first. I’ve still got some pancakes left over. You just missed Fox, by the way. By fifteen minutes.”
Summer nearly missed the edge of his chair, and went plunking half toward the floor before he caught himself on the edge of the kitchen table and dragged himself up, settling clumsily on the seat and staring at his mother.