“Then don’t. Just let them be. Let everything be.”
I watched the shadows cast by the oak tree in the middle of the town square dance as a deep well of tiredness rose to the surface of my consciousness.
And then I fell asleep with no memory of shutting my eyes.
8
Liem
I wokebefore the church bells.
Parking close to the church with the most pleasant hourly chimes seemed a good precaution to oversleeping, but apparently, I hadn’t needed it today.
With my eyes still closed, I scrunched my eyebrows to feel out the unexpected warmth underneath them.
Soft, thin fabric and a warm body.
I inhaled.
Coconut sunscreen. Unmistakable when you lived on the Coast.
That was all the evidence I needed to conclude that I’d found a comfortable perch against Cody’s back in my sleep.
Unfolding myself from the cart as quietly as possible, I rubbed the warmth from my forehead and took stock of our surroundings. Not much time had passed, but enough that sunlight was now speared directly across Cody’s face, making his tan skin practically glow.
I wasn’t sure how long ago he’d applied the sunscreen, so I rounded the cart and eased my body in front of the stream of sunlight. I glanced over my shoulder at him long enough to confirm that he was fully cast in shadow before turning back and giving him privacy in his sleep.
Meditation and mindful breathing had done me a huge favor in dealing with the physical reality of Cody Desmond.
I didn’t think he had a clue that his mere existence made my heart race.
That I had to deploytechniquesto not freeze around him anymore.
The first time I’d encountered all that he was in person, I’d found myself at the intersection of dismay and misfortune.
I’d expected a lot just from knowing him online, and he exceeded… everything. All of it. It wasn’t that I ever thought that Cody wouldn’t be as spectacular as my online friend Dezi was. It was that I’d found out that someone else had thought he was too.
Spectacular, that is.
An intense guy a few years older than us with curly hair and a broody demeanor. A guy who pulled Cody away before we’d exchanged more than brief hellos, our first mutual glimpses in the flesh happening in a dimly lit casino bar I was too young to legally patronize.
Then came Dad’s sudden collision of unexpected health problems, which had forced me into a decision to let any wild notions I had go.
And Ihadlet it go. At that point. For reasons that were still valid.
Friendship with both Bree and Cody was a precious thing not meant to be treated with anything but the highest regard.
And based on him seeking my help to relax, that protocol was working. He was allowing himself to trust me, and that was such an honor.
And I was so, so glad I’d found time to talk to Bree about what’d happened with the EMT. I wasn’t sure I actually would have suggested therapy to Cody, but if she hadn’t helped me realize the error in that, I might have. I now understood that people didn’t take kindly to such. She’d also poked me in the arm as she explained—with a good amount of mirth—that the EMT likely had a crush on me.
“Liem… imagine that you finally work up the courage to talk to the guy you like, and he responds by suggesting you seek therapy.”
Heavens. I couldn’t see how Jeremiah could associate me with anything but stress, and the idea that he harbored some sort of crush had never crossed my mind.
I checked on Cody again and smiled at his sleeping form. I learned from my mistakes, and sharing what helped me with him seemed to have helped.
Life was good.
