It definitely seemed like she preferred hanging out with Cai now more than she did with me. Although I knew that was just a bout of self-pity on my part because I knew that I was the one who had caused that. I turned on my side to face her and reached out to brush away a strand of her hair that was sticking to her lip gloss. I had tasted that lip gloss when I kissed her, with the most benign and innocuous kiss ever. I wanted to actually kiss her. I wanted to kiss her and mean it and have her kiss me back. I wanted to kiss her in a way that she would remember in the morning and to stay up all night together, kissing each other. But for tonight, I would just try to sleep on my side of the bed without touching her at all.
I looked at her while she slept and thought about Cai and that group of models who I knew she shouldn’t have gotten wrapped up with. Cai and Kerynne were notorious for partying hard. One day, I was sure it would catch up to them. But for now, they enjoyed being reckless and wild. It was probably a good stress release for Hensley to go out with people she thought were fun and maybe even friends. But that group was only friends with themselves, and Hensley didn’t fit in with them. I had been pissed-off with Cai before, but now I was infuriated. I would have to sort out how to handle him tomorrow. I couldn’t afford to lose the rest of my models, but I also wasn’t going to ever let him lay a hand on Hensley again. I tried to close my eyes, and even though I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I drifted off as soon as my eyelids shut.
I had a dream that night about being inside a crowded nightclub, just like the real one from earlier tonight. All of the same people seemed to be there, too. Except for this time, Cai and Kerynne had on their runway outfits. Kerynne looked like a beautiful, dark maiden, and Cai looked like an indulgent and arrogant fairy prince. The music in my dream was faster than possible, and it seemed as if people were whirling around at neck-breaking speed. In the middle of all of it was Hensley. She appeared as though she had fallen asleep in the middle of the dance floor, and people were just moving around her as if she weren’t even there. She didn’t look like she would get hurt, but she did look out of place there and like she needed to be taken out. So, I bent down and scooped her up into my arms.
When I woke up from my dream, I found that Hensley was actually in my arms. At some point in the middle of the night, while we slept, we had somehow managed to curl up together. I was mostly on my back, although my body was almost facing toward Hensley. My arms were wrapped around her, and her sleeping head was laying against my shoulder. Our legs were tangled around each other as if we had gravitated together and then wanted to make sure we stayed there. She was still fast asleep when I opened my eyes. I stayed there for a few minutes and rubbed the top of her forehead.
When she did open her eyes, I knew she would be frightened and confused and impossibly disoriented. I tried to stay quiet as I rubbed her hair and gave her a moment to try to remember what had happened. She looked around and then looked up at me.
“Are we at your apartment?” she asked calmly. She was taking this much better than I had thought she would.
“Yes,” I said.
“And we slept here together?”
“Nothing happened if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said. “I got comfortable on my side of the bed to sleep. When I finally got some sleep and then woke back up again a few minutes ago, we were lying just like this. I think we somehow curled up together in our sleep.
“And that’s all?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Unless there’s something else that you remember.” I waited for her response to see if she remembered anything at all. It was unlikely that she would.
“Did you kiss me?” she asked. “Sorry, I know that’s a weird question, but I have this strange, lingering