If We Disappear Here by M Hayes & Mindy Hayes

Author:M Hayes & Mindy Hayes [Hayes, M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

The following day when the bugle blares, Ledger’s body heat is missing. I bolt upright, and breathe a sigh of relief when I find him on the other side of the room. He’s curled onto his side, facing the wall. Panic flares in my chest, but once the bugle ends, he rolls to his back, flinging an arm over his eyes.

“Hey.”

“Morning,” he says without meeting my stare.

While Ledger isn’t particularly a morning person, he hasn’t been this distant since the beginning.

“Everything okay?”

He clears the morning rasp from his voice. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

Maybe because you’re on the opposite side of the cell and still have yet to look at me.

“Find this side of the room too lumpy last night?” I joke.

“Just wanted to test out your side of the room.”

“You’re being weird. What’s going on?”

A few moments pass. Instead of facing me, he says to the ceiling, “I found myself curled around you when I woke up. I didn’t want you to wake and be uncomfortable.”

I wouldn’t have been. “You were probably seeking warmth. You could’ve rolled away if it bothered you. You didn’t have to move to the other side of the room.”

“It was easier.”

“Ledger, you’re being ridiculous. We’ve been sleeping side by side for months. There’s very little you could do to make me uncomfortable. I trust you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

I breathe a chuckle. What’s that supposed to mean? “What is up with you?”

“We almost kissed yesterday, Maeve.”

Well, okay. I guess we’re not beating around the bush this morning. “But we didn’t.”

Ledger sits, angling toward me with his legs steepled. “Well, I wanted to, and I wanted to again when I woke before the bugle and my body was already in a certain morning state. So, I had to get myself under control. I assumed you wouldn’t want to be woken up that way.”

Oh. Oh.

What would I even have done? I mean…he’s a man. It’s a perfectly normal morning reaction. But what is he implying? That he wanted to wake me with a kiss?

Or more?

“While I appreciate your chivalry, I’m a thirty-year-old woman, Ledger. I’m well aware of your anatomy and how the male body works.”

“Then you’re aware my anatomy doesn’t always just wake like that. Sometimes it’s provoked.”

As the pieces come together, I try to keep my face neutral. Of course he was provoked. The man has needs and he’s been stuck in this confined space without a single release.

“You know what? It’s not important. I just… You were sleeping, Maeve. I’d never want you to think I was taking advantage. These aren’t normal circumstances. It’s not like you stayed the night at my house.”

“No, we’re two grieving spouses who have endured a traumatic experience together. I wouldn’t have held it against you, Ledger. I know you have no control over something like that.”

“Please don’t talk to me like I’m a patient.” His eyes focus on the floor at his feet. “Let’s just drop it, all right?”

“I wasn’t trying to talk to you like a patient.” I curl my arms around my bent knees, drawing them to my chest.

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