Imani was just supposed to make sure that the lost dog got home safely, come back, and pretend like the mere thought of the owner with doe eyes and an armful of tattoos didn't make her question her entire belief system. Sounds simple enough...right...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
My fingers hover over the laptop's touchpad, eyes too close to the screen as I read over every word I've written over the past two hours for the hundredth time before I finally hit send. When I lean back and stretch my arms up, I have to blink several times before my eyesight goes back to normal.
One glance at the clock tells me it's still early, and I consider going back to bed only for a second before deciding against it and slowly pushing my chair back so I don't wake Layla up.
Although she's a heavy sleever and often teases me about how overly cautious I am about this, I haven't been able to bring myself to stop. She'd never say it out loud, but I've seen how quickly she falls asleep after coming back from a photoshoot. Out of all of us, her job is the most tiring. Plus, she'd been breezing around the house the entire day because she finally has the time to go out with River tonight. I'd hate for her to be exhausted on the date she's been looking forward to way longer than she'd ever admit out loud.
So when I make my way to the door, my steps are quiet and my motions when I close it behind me even quieter.
I had already expected Sean to be in the living room (or the kitchen) because he always is—either drinking coffee, reading, or doing something on his laptop—but I'm surprised to find him sitting on the couch with Juni, the two of them talking in hushed voices. I give the wall clock a confused glance, wondering what's so important that it's got them talking like this at seven in the morning.
Deciding to not ask because I know they'd tell me if I had to know, I just shake my head when they sense my presence and look up, and I point in the direction of the door to let them know I'm going outside.
The weight of my phone feels heavy in my pocket even as the morning air kisses my cheeks and caresses my worn-out eyelids, growing bigger and bigger every time I think about Kaia's last text lying unanswered in it.
was that too direct? The first line had said, and it's embedded inside my head with how many times I've read it. You'd think it might get easier to think of a reply considering it's almost been a week since the text first made a permanent home in my phone as well as my heart. But the part of my brain that's responsible for sane thinking is overtaken by overthinking.
you dont have to reply to any of this. please remember that okay? bec now that i know there's a chance you feel the same way that i do, i cant keep this to myself anymore. I fiddle with the hem of the shirtsleeve covering my palm, feeling a fraction of the embarrassment from the night of the gig flare up my cheeks for a few seconds. I don't know if I want Kaia's confidence or some kind of magic that would make me forget the entire ordeal.
it's too soon to say i like you but i'm getting there. really fast. i wasn't gonna say anything. especially since we're about to work together very soon. it felt like the right thing to do. but then you said all those things at the bar and i changed my mind so quickly it's embarrassing. I had felt the corners of my lips quirk upwards at that despite myself.
