alone for the night?
“What’s he out doing tonight?” I asked, keeping the conversation flowing.
“Some party or something.” She shrugged and poured us both a glass of Pepsi.
“Cool,” I said.
The microwave dinged and I reached in for the popcorn and dumped it into the large bowl Jules had gotten me. She grabbed up the bag of cookies and one cup of Pepsi before starting toward the couch again. I scooped up my glass and the bowl of popcorn before I followed her.
Setting the bowl and my cup down on the scarred wood of the old coffee table, I started to put in my movie.
“You’ll have to sit there until you press play. I have no idea where the remote is; we lost it a while back,” Jules said through a bite of soggy cookie.
I smiled. “Okay.”
I hit menu as soon as the movie began to start the previews and heard her grunt behind me once the main screen came up, showing that creepy ass clown.
“No. Way. I am not watching this!” Jules shouted as I hit play.
I turned to face her and started toward the couch. “Why not? We all have to face our fears at some point in our lives. It’s healthy.” I smirked.
“You know how much I don’t like clowns,” she said, raising an eyebrow, and then added, “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“You’ll be fine,” I insisted, liking watching her squirm a little too much.
She shook her head back and forth. “No, I won’t be. I don’t think Cole’s coming home tonight at all. You’re going to make me watch this creepy clown movie with you and then leave me all alone! You’re freaking cruel!”
I tossed a few pieces of popcorn into my mouth and glanced at her sideways. “Who said anything about leaving you alone tonight?”
I knew it was a bold thing to say as soon as the words fell from my lips, but I didn’t care. After the moment in the kitchen, I was bound and determined to let Jules know exactly how I felt about her tonight. Screw going snail slow. I’d passed my patience for snail slow in the kitchen.
I watched as her eyes grew wide and that same pink tint flushed her cheeks again before she shifted her gaze away. I took it as a good sign.
The movie started and neither one of us said a word. A considerable amount of space remained between us, but as the movie progressed, and Jules began to grow scared, that space decreased inch by inch. By the time we’d come to the part that even I was afraid of—where the clown was talking through the sink drain to the little girl in the bathroom—that space was gone and Jules was pressed up against my side like I’d wanted her to be all night.
“Oh my God, move away from the sink! Away from the sink!” she shouted at the TV, flailing her hands in front of her just before covering her eyes, fingers spread apart.
I wrapped my arm around her and she snuggled her head into my shoulder. My thoughts shifted. They weren’t on the movie or the scary scene playing out in front of my eyes anymore; my thoughts were on Jules and how good it felt to be holding her in my arms again.
“I’m seriously going to have nightmares tonight. Thanks,” she said, smacking my stomach playfully and laughing once the movie rolled on to a calmer scene.
“I can stay with you tonight…if you want me to,” I said, glancing down into her bright eyes and praying she’d say yes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
JULIE
He’d said the words with such seriousness that my heart rate spiked a little and I wondered if he could tell what he was doing to me tonight. How hard he was making things.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I said, shifting my gaze back toward the TV, but not really seeing it anymore.
“Why not? It’ll be like old times. I’ll go home, that way mom will think I’m there, and sneak out to come back over. I’ll even climb up that old maple tree beside your window like I used to. I could use an extra workout,” he insisted.
I remembered how many times he’d done that in the
“What’s he out doing tonight?” I asked, keeping the conversation flowing.
“Some party or something.” She shrugged and poured us both a glass of Pepsi.
“Cool,” I said.
The microwave dinged and I reached in for the popcorn and dumped it into the large bowl Jules had gotten me. She grabbed up the bag of cookies and one cup of Pepsi before starting toward the couch again. I scooped up my glass and the bowl of popcorn before I followed her.
Setting the bowl and my cup down on the scarred wood of the old coffee table, I started to put in my movie.
“You’ll have to sit there until you press play. I have no idea where the remote is; we lost it a while back,” Jules said through a bite of soggy cookie.
I smiled. “Okay.”
I hit menu as soon as the movie began to start the previews and heard her grunt behind me once the main screen came up, showing that creepy ass clown.
“No. Way. I am not watching this!” Jules shouted as I hit play.
I turned to face her and started toward the couch. “Why not? We all have to face our fears at some point in our lives. It’s healthy.” I smirked.
“You know how much I don’t like clowns,” she said, raising an eyebrow, and then added, “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“You’ll be fine,” I insisted, liking watching her squirm a little too much.
She shook her head back and forth. “No, I won’t be. I don’t think Cole’s coming home tonight at all. You’re going to make me watch this creepy clown movie with you and then leave me all alone! You’re freaking cruel!”
I tossed a few pieces of popcorn into my mouth and glanced at her sideways. “Who said anything about leaving you alone tonight?”
I knew it was a bold thing to say as soon as the words fell from my lips, but I didn’t care. After the moment in the kitchen, I was bound and determined to let Jules know exactly how I felt about her tonight. Screw going snail slow. I’d passed my patience for snail slow in the kitchen.
I watched as her eyes grew wide and that same pink tint flushed her cheeks again before she shifted her gaze away. I took it as a good sign.
The movie started and neither one of us said a word. A considerable amount of space remained between us, but as the movie progressed, and Jules began to grow scared, that space decreased inch by inch. By the time we’d come to the part that even I was afraid of—where the clown was talking through the sink drain to the little girl in the bathroom—that space was gone and Jules was pressed up against my side like I’d wanted her to be all night.
“Oh my God, move away from the sink! Away from the sink!” she shouted at the TV, flailing her hands in front of her just before covering her eyes, fingers spread apart.
I wrapped my arm around her and she snuggled her head into my shoulder. My thoughts shifted. They weren’t on the movie or the scary scene playing out in front of my eyes anymore; my thoughts were on Jules and how good it felt to be holding her in my arms again.
“I’m seriously going to have nightmares tonight. Thanks,” she said, smacking my stomach playfully and laughing once the movie rolled on to a calmer scene.
“I can stay with you tonight…if you want me to,” I said, glancing down into her bright eyes and praying she’d say yes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
JULIE
He’d said the words with such seriousness that my heart rate spiked a little and I wondered if he could tell what he was doing to me tonight. How hard he was making things.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I said, shifting my gaze back toward the TV, but not really seeing it anymore.
“Why not? It’ll be like old times. I’ll go home, that way mom will think I’m there, and sneak out to come back over. I’ll even climb up that old maple tree beside your window like I used to. I could use an extra workout,” he insisted.
I remembered how many times he’d done that in the
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