I wasn’t sure what woke me up.
The curtains weren’t parted like they usually were in the morning, so no sun filtered through and into my eyes. But as soon as I opened my eyes, I was wide awake—wide awake, as if I’d been up for hours. Beck wasn’t lying next to me, but he never was when I woke up. As if some internal alarm woke him, he was always first to wake. I didn’t know what kind of time schedule they run over on Luyah, but Beck is up way before the crack of dawn, and he goes to bed at the same time I do—usually around midnight. Luyahians must not need much sleep, because he hardly gets any. Unless he naps during the day, which I didn’t think so.
But this time, when I reached out to touch the imprint of where his body had been, the gray sheets still felt warm. He must’ve just gotten up.
I slipped my legs outside of the comforter as quietly as I could, feeling the warm summer greet my skin. Today would be a busy day—a day that would leave me exhausted no doubt by its end, but I got up anyway. Sleeping in? No thanks. Not when I had something that I’d be damned if I missed. I always missed them. But not today.
Just off the living room hung the balcony. From our fourth floor location, our view was pretty great. We could see the rolling hills that stretched just a little bit beyond Grisham Falls, the tips of the copse of trees that hid the small collection of water falls that Grisham was named for. Even better, the direction of our balcony faced the east; a perfect direction to watch the sun rise.
I found Beck staring at the beginnings of it, sitting on one of the lounge chairs, where the lights were mostly purple and a dirty-looking orange, his back facing me. The balcony door was left wide open, and the cool air of the summer morning filtered through.
My footsteps must’ve been quiet as I approached, because when I smoothed my palms over Beck’s shoulders, he jumped. “Jonas,” he said, craning his neck. His eyes were such a light and vibrant purple—I’d never seen them so bright. I was never up early enough to. “You’re up.”
“I know, weird, right?” I said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. It felt a little stubbly under my lips, making me smile. “I didn’t miss it, right?”
“Not even close. Sit with me and we can watch it together.”
There was no way I was going to object. Instead of moving to the other lounge chair on the balcony, I sat on the other half of his. His back leaned against the back of the chair, but he eased his legs apart so I fit snugly between them, my spine settling along his chest. When his strong arms wrapped around me, I practically melted into him, savoring the feel of the two of us together.
There was something important about that moment with him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It almost felt as if the air between us charged, some hidden meaning lurking in the air, but it left me feeling good. Smiley. Happy. With his arms around mine, his chin resting on my shoulder, the beautiful sun being birthed from the horizon, I felt so completely and immeasurably happy.
“Are you going to come by for lunch?” I asked him, hating that I was breaking the quiet of this moment, but I just wanted to hear him speak. “You can come by around 2:30 and then walk me to Cassie’s at 3. If you wanted.”
“I’d love to,” Beck said, voice murmuring from his whisper. “You know I love those country fried steaks.”
“Anything else?”
