Knot Their Toy: the complete duet by AJ Merlin

Author:AJ Merlin [Merlin, AJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-11T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Thirty-One

I don’t mean to sleep all the way through the night. Not when I’d thought to stay up and look over the emails already being sent by my professors for the semester. I’d wanted to read them, maybe do a little bit of studying just to refresh myself, and stare at my phone, pretending that my mom is going to text me with an apology.

Not that she is, of course. Since I left, she’s been radio silent. It should bother me, but this isn’t new. I know her tactics well by now, and this is one of her favorites. She thinks she can guilt me into an apology and into admitting that it’s all my fault with no exception. Unfortunately, she’s been right before.

But I’m physically so far away this time that I’d prefer she’s wrong on this occasion. Maybe the distance will help, and the fact that I have three very poignant things to distract me.

Barefoot, while wearing my pj pants and a black tee, I walk out of Dorian’s room to see August in the living room, a textbook open on the coffee table and his laptop there as well. He isn’t using them, however. Rather, he’s looking over a spread of cards, his eyes heavy-lidded and drowsy. His curls look tousled, and as I get nearer to him it’s impossible to miss Foster’s scent heavy in the surrounding air.

“Did Foster leave?” I ask, sitting down on the sofa. I still can’t quite believe I’m staying here, and last night I’d come up with three compelling arguments about why I should leave. Though they were all to convince me instead of them.

“No,” August hums, flipping a card and placing it on another one. It occurs to me he’s playing clock solitaire and I lean forward, my eyes on the cards.

I’m pretty sure he’s losing.

“He’s asleep. Foster had a, uh.” A smile touches his lips and I really don’t need to be a psychic to know what he’s going to say.

“Long night?” I assume. August dips his head in agreement. “So you tired him out, but he didn’t tire you out?” Sinking down to the floor, I rest my elbows on the table, still transfixed while watching him play. I’ve never been good at solitaire. Memory has always been my preference. But watching August do this is almost mesmerizing.

Absently, I tuck my hair behind my ear, managing to catch my hearing aid on it and jerking it out of my ear before I can stop myself. It clatters to the table, August pausing as if he’s going to pick it up for me, but he stops himself before he can.

Feeling a touch embarrassed, I snatch it up and readjust it in my ear, sighing. “So I slept on this side of my face when I was on the plane. And I guess I kept rubbing against the seat or something,” I admit, frowning. “For some reason, it just doesn’t feel right today. I’ve tried bending it back and all. But it’s still just not quite there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.