Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,21

had refused. She couldn't get herself to part with it.

Not yet.

"How about watching TV? Reading?"

"I've tried it. I also tried warm milk, soft music, and white noise. Nothing seems to help."

"Counting sheep?" he teased.

"I started counting, but I got distracted thinking about something else. Then my OCD kicked in and I made myself start over because I just had to get the numbers in the right order, and…Ugh, never mind. Now I'm starting to sound crazy, too."

"I actually understand what you’re going through. I had a bad case of insomnia a few years ago. My mom used to make me this tea that worked really well, but I can't remember what was in it."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I do worry, babydoc," he said softly.

"Thank you…for worrying about me." Aislynn felt his warmth embrace her, even long distance. "How are you doing? How's New York?"

"It’s going well. Lots of meetings and trying to get some extra business, which has unfortunately left me with absolutely zero time to enjoy the city."

"I miss New York," Aislynn said longingly. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized how much she missed that period of her life.

"Wait…you lived here too?" he asked, surprised.

"Oh, yeah. Didn’t I tell you I went to NYU for undergrad?"

"You’re not exactly forthcoming when it comes to personal details of your life, you know," he teased.

"I’m sorry. It’s an occupational hazard, I guess. Hey, you should go to this little deli shop in SoHo that makes the absolute best roast beef sandwich in the world."

After giving Jace the address and telling him exactly how he needed to order it to make it "extra delicious"—ketchup and mayo mixed together into a sauce and lathered on both sides of the bread—Jace wished her a good night and promised to call her soon.

Aislynn decided to take a bath in hopes it would help relax her. As she soaked in the hot bubbly water, her mind wandered to her time in New York and all the wonderful things she experienced there. It didn’t escape her how the daydreams were inevitably flooded with images of Jace hanging out with her at Central Park, getting cappuccinos from her favorite coffee shop in the city, and having dinner at the family-owned Italian restaurant she used to go to once a week for true, authentic carbonara.

When she came back into her room, she found a text from Jace on her phone.

I called my mom. This is the recipe for the tea. Hope it helps. Sweet dreams.

Damn, he's good, she thought and swooned. Yes, he’d actually made her swoon.

It was day four of no sleep for Aislynn. She kept having the same nightmare over and over again: the beautiful woman with green eyes that she couldn’t hang on to, big waves coming after her, and the flooding hospital call room. She didn't want to take a sleeping pill for obvious reasons, and she didn't want to drink herself to sleep. She had never really been a heavy drinker, even though that might've been hard to believe based on the last few times she had been out with Ellie and the guys.

"Same nightmare?" Ellie asked as she watched Aislynn walk out of her room, the dark circles under her eyes becoming more pronounced with each passing day.

"This is getting out of hand," Aislynn said and slammed her head on the table in frustration.

"I’m sorry, sweetie. Have you tried writing down your dream? Maybe it’ll help you get rid of it."

"Yeah, maybe. What are you up to?"

"I’m heading over to the beach house to do some work. Want to come?"

Ellie had been busy working on Jace's design project. He had met with her to approve the plans before leaving town and had given her free access to his house for the week. She had tried several times to engage Aislynn in helping her, but Aislynn didn't feel comfortable going into Jace's personal space without him there.

Aislynn spent the day trying to write, but the words didn’t come. After finally giving up, she sat in her living room, closed her eyes, and took deep breaths, letting her mind wander to the issue that was weighing on her mind—Jace; or Christopher; or rather, both.

Blame it on the recurring dream, the severe sleep deprivation, or the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Jace, but Aislynn started feeling really spooked. She had arguably had the best date of her life, and with every text and every phone call, Jace and Aislynn grew closer together.