hers. Deeply bronze, soulful and… shit. The girl was an old soul. There wasn’t any pretending on that. She looked into my eyes and I fell into hers – I always had. It felt like if I looked too deeply into her gaze that I would fall through time itself, through the ages, and find myself in ancient Rome or some shit.
Ever since she was able to talk, everyone had said it. Eden was an old soul, so mature for her age, and she was – I would give her that. She was like my sister, Maren, in a lot of ways that way. She just hadn’t had to go through so much tragedy to make her that way.
Her mom wasn’t crazy. Red was actually kind of fucking amazing – supportive, a quiet almost rock of ages when it came to their family. Meanwhile, Rev was more outgoing, more dynamic, and definitely the more hotheaded of the two. Mandy was perfect for him. They balanced each other out, and most importantly, unlike my parents, they were still together.
My mom died in a nuthouse, my dad had died of cancer. And Maren? Maren had held us together despite what an ungrateful little shit I’d been.
The door creaked, and I jumped as it opened a crack.
I stared at the crack in the door for what should have only been a heartbeat but with how hard and how fast my heart was pounding, I probably fit in three. I pushed open the door and slipped in. She stood by the bed – striking, beautiful – everything I could ever want. I wasn’t sure anymore if I should keep denying myself.
It was as though I saw her with new eyes in that moment and I didn’t know what to do.
“You okay?” she asked quietly, and I nodded dumbly.
“Yeah, I’m good. Come on, let’s get you tucked in.”
“I’m not a child,” she said with a smile that held some serious sadness to it.
“It’s hard,” I confessed.
“What is?” She cocked her head, the thick braid she’d tortured her curls into, slipping back over her narrow shoulder over the gray tee I’d given her. I went over and pulled the blankets back and ushered her into my bed with a wave of my other hand.
She sank down onto the edge of the bed and gripped the hem of the tee to keep it down and from riding up any further on her shapely pale legs.
I tried not to think too hard about that. She had enough of a chest, and her torso was long enough that the tee barely came down past her ass, barely covered the apex of her thighs. I knew she was wearing panties, I’d glimpsed the black material, but I was trying really hard not to think about that either.
She scooted in, and I lowered the blankets over her lap and urged her to lay down. She gripped my wrist to stop me and I paused.
“What’s hard?” she asked, swallowing hard. “Stay with me, Sage. Talk to me…” the intensity, the low pleading in her voice… I sank down onto the edge of the bed, my back to her, and considered her request.
Stay with me… easy. Talk to me… now that was hard as fuck. I wasn’t meant to burden anyone with my problems. Least of all her… but she is your problem, that little voice in the back of my mind, the one that betrayed every pure intention I had when it came to Eden, whispered out of the dark.
I took off first one boot, then the other and got up. I went to my door and shut it. I could swear I heard her voice woosh out with relief.
“I’ll stay,” I said. “Just until you’re asleep.”
She nodded and scooted down beneath the blankets, moving over just a little more to make ample room for me on the bed.
I went to her, tucking the blankets around her firmly and sitting myself on top of them. I eased down and pulled her against me. She just fit so well against my side, her head on my chest, and God, it was even more perfect than the cuddles in the dark of the home theater we had set up here.
“Talk to me,” she cajoled. “What’s hard?”
My dick, for one, I thought to myself, but fuck if I was going to say that out loud. I felt it keenly then… that I was in the presence of a lady and that was a tough one