The Way We Burn

Seventeen: Gigi

A frantic knocking thundered against my front door, ripping me right out of my day off cat nap. I'd elected to have a lazy day, catching up on my favorite shows, finishing my latest read (an impeccable thriller about a wife who exacts a twisted revenge on her cheating spouse), a little light housework, and a whole lot of texting Sully. It had been nearly three weeks now since he had decided to really give us a shot, and we'd been pretty much inseparable since. It was honestly perfection, so when the assault on my door ripped me from a Sully-fueled dream, I was less than impressed. Even unconscious, I wanted to be with him.

It was honestly so gross. I would've made fun of any number of my friends if the roles were reversed, and now here I was, all mushy-hearted, googly-eyed like the heroines I often read about. Absolutely disgusting... and I loved every damn second of it.

Goblin started barking at the wannabe intruder before I could even make it off the sofa to answer. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Jesus," I grumbled as I shuffled my fuzzy slippered feet toward the pounding. "Someone better be dead."

I yanked the door open, and instantly all of my annoyance faded as I spotted Sully, one hand raised, poised for another attack and gray eyes wide and wild.

Immediately my brows cinched together in concern. "Hey handsome," I greeted as he just stood there gaping at me. "You okay?"

"We need to talk," Sully responded with a bark as he damn near bowled me over to get inside.

"That sounds promising," I mumbled as I closed the door behind us and turned to face him. "What's going on?"

"I saw your dad today."

A bit of the tension his ominous words had caused eased out of me as my eyes narrowed on him. "O-kaaaay... and?"

"I don't know if I can keep doing this!" Sully exclaimed, raking his fingers through his hair as if he was attempting to rip it out. "It killed me to lie to him, Galena. That man has done so much for me and I fucking lied right to his face. Who fucking does that?!"

"Baby..." I spoke, attempting to slow his panic.

"I... I feel like shit. I feel like I've betrayed the one person who's had my back the last... twenty five fucking years. I feel like a fucking monster, Gi!"

"Baby, you need to breathe," I stated, moving toward him slowly as if he was a cornered stray. "You're gonna give yourself a heart attack."

"I'm not fucking kidding, Gi! This isn't some fucking game to me!"

"Hey, I know that," I snipped back. I closed the last little bit of space between us and placed a palm against his chest, immediately feeling his heart absolutely hammering beneath it. "You need to stop for a second, Bennett. Take a breath, okay?"

"Gigi."

"I mean it," I interrupted, my tone coming out way too much like my mother's for my liking. "Breathe, baby."

I watched Sully's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed and then, almost hesitantly, nodded his head. One big deep breath in.

"Good," I smiled up at him. "One more time." Again, he obliged and I smiled before taking a deep breath of my own as I felt his racing heart begin to slow. "There. There we go. Now tell me what happened. Did you get into a fight or something?"

Sully shook his head, his thick brows pinched together. "No. No, not at all." He licked his lips and looked up at my popcorn ceiling for a moment. "Nothing... really happened, per say. I just..." He paused, closed his eyes and took a deep breath without my instruction. "He said something about a new sparkle in my eye and I fucking panicked. He asked if I was seeing someone and I... I obviously couldn't tell him the truth so I lied and I feel like shit. I don't know if I can keep hiding us, Gi. I feel like I'm going to let something slip without even realizing it."