I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling.
Sleep wouldn’t come.
It was weird to lie in bed without Willow.
In only a few days I’d grown so used to her presence that I didn’t know what to do without her now.
My room had several large windows overlooking the backyard—although calling it a yard wasn’t accurate. It was mostly decking and the pool. It looked like there was a set of stairs leading down to the beach as well. It didn’t seem like Liam would like that—because someone could gain access to his house from the stairs, but for all I knew he kept a padlock on the bottom and only he had a key. It sounded crazy, but it was something Liam would do.
With a groan, I pushed the covers off of me and stood, staring out the window.
The bright white of the moon reflected off the water, casting an eerie glow.
I wondered if Willow was having as much trouble finding sleep as I was, or if I was alone in my suffering.
Not only was sleep elusive because I missed her, but also since I kept replaying the night before in my mind.
I hadn’t expected that to happen. Not in a tent, at some campsite, in the middle of nowhere. But sometimes things can’t be controlled and it was only a matter of time. Willow was right, though. The time, the place…none of it mattered. None of that was what made it special. It was us.
Turning away from the window I decided to head downstairs. It was after one in the morning and hoping for sleep was pointless.
I found myself in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator in search of orange juice. I spotted it and grabbed the bottle before searching the cabinets for glasses.
I’d just located them when I heard shuffling on the stairs.
A moment later Willow appeared.
My eyes roamed over her bare legs, to the pair of teeny tiny shorts she wore, and then had to laugh at her shirt.
“You stole that from my bag.”
She plucked at the too big for her t-shirt with a small grin. “Looks better on me.” She winked.
Just a simple wink.
The lowering of one eyelid.
And yet I wanted to grab her and kiss her until my breath was hers and hers was mine.
“Can’t sleep?” She questioned, padding towards me.
She stopped in front of me, and like my hands had a mind of their own they settled at her waist. I needed to touch her to remind myself that she was real, that this was real, and not a figment of my imagination. I’d dreamed so often of this, of finding someone to complete me, that I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. My lips lifted at a memory of something dad always told me.
“What?” Willow asked, noting the twitch in my lips. She smoothed her fingers through my hair, looking up at me with loving blue eyes.
“I was thinking about something my dad always tells me.”
“And what’s that?” She’d been on her tiptoes, but now she stood flat on her feet, her chest pressed against mine.
“He always told me to dream with my eyes open, that even when we’re awake our dreams shouldn’t fade into nothingness. Only we have the power to turn those dreams into reality. You were my dream, and now you’re my reality.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet.” Willow lifted to press a fleeting kiss to my jaw. “I’m hungry, you want something to eat?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. It seemed that every time I tried to say something meaningful Willow always had to go and say something silly afterwards. At least she didn’t call me, or my dad in this case, Yoda.
“I could eat,” I admitted. Shocker.
“Sit.” Willow pointed to one of the shiny metal barstools.