Love is Blind by Shayna B

and saw Blake’s
face. His eyes were still closed, but his lips were turned up into
a smile.
    When I heard the door open, I turned my
attention to it. Sophie poked her head in and her eyes widened when
she saw me curled up against Blake’s side. “Oh sorry. I didn’t mean
to wake you up.”
    Blake shifted underneath me a little. “I was
already awake.”
    I looked back up at him. “How long have you been
awake for?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. Not long.”
    I turned to Sophie again. “Is something
wrong?”
    She shook her head. “No, I just wanted to see
how things were going, that’s all.”
    I sat up and stretched my arms over my head,
wincing when the muscles in my back protested the movement. “Well,
I got him calmed down,” I said.
    Blake sat up as well, his hand going to my back.
He started lightly massaging the sore muscles as he turned his head
in his cousin’s direction. “Thanks for calling her, Soph.”
    Surprise flitted across her features. “No
problem. But I thought you’d be angry with me for doing that.”
    He shrugged. “I am kind of annoyed that you went
behind my back, but in this case it worked out for the best. So
thanks.”
    She smiled. “You’re welcome. Hailey, are you
staying here for the day?”
    I glanced at Blake. “I don’t know.”
    “I don’t have anything planned, so you can stay
if you want,” he told me as he dropped his hand back to his
side.
    “I suppose that’s the closest thing to an
invitation that I’ll be getting from you,” I said jokingly.
    He grinned. “You’re probably right. So, are you
going to stay?”
    “Sure. But you have to take me and Sophie out
for dinner later.”
    The smile left his face. “Why do I have to do
that?”
    “Because we want you to. Right Sophie?”
    Sophie bit her lip, but the look on my face must
have convinced her. “Yeah, that would be fun.”
    When I looked back at Blake, I saw that he was
scowling, but I could also detect a bit of fear. Without looking
away from him, I spoke to Sophie. “Sophie, why don’t you go take
Abby out in the yard? We’ll be there shortly.”
    Sophie looked between the two of us once before
nodding and closing the door behind her. I waited until I was sure
she was gone before speaking again. “You haven’t been out to dinner
since the accident, have you?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I don’t want everyone staring at me,”
he snapped.
    “Don’t get all snarky with me. Why would
everyone stare at you?”
    “Because I’m blind,” he said in voice that
indicated I wasn’t too smart.
    “Yeah, but it’s not like it’s easy to see that.
You look like every other teenage boy that I’ve ever seen.”
    “Why are you being so damn pushy about
this?”
    “Because you need to get the hell out of this
house. It’s not good for you to keep yourself so cut off. You’re
being a wimp.”
    He bristled. “I am not a wimp.”
    “Well, you sure as hell act like one a lot of
the time. Come out to dinner with Sophie and me tonight. It might
end up being fun.”
    Blake sat with a blank face for a few minutes,
his jaw tense. Finally, he blew out a breath. “Fine,” he said
grudgingly.
    I grinned and bumped his shoulder with mine
lightly. “Don’t be such a sourpuss.” I looked around his room and
spotted his guitar sitting in the corner. “Are you any good on the
guitar?”
    “I guess so.”
    “Will you play something for me?”
    He debated for a moment. “Sure.” He climbed off
the bed and made his way to his guitar. He picked it up and walked
back to the bed, sitting on the edge. “What do you want me to
play?”
    “Something happy.”
    “Okay.” He positioned his
fingers over the strings and strummed it a few times before
starting the song. He chose to play Mud on the Tires by Brad
Paisley. I closed my eyes as I listened to him sing. His
voice was deep and beautiful, and it sent shivers through my
body.
    After the last note, I opened my eyes again.
Blake had a