Page 24 of Room to Breathe

“You have plenty.”

I took two deep breaths, surprised at how much better I felt after our short conversation than I had in a while. “Hey, Beau?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For being my person.”

Chapter 9

Now

We sat cross-legged on thefloor, facing each other. Between us were the two protein bars, gum, my binder full of paper, a half-dozen pens, and a book I’d checked out from the library at least two months ago and had neither returned nor read yet. I had already gotten at least four late notices from the librarian that I ignored. The rest of the stuff was still in my bag, unhelpful to us at the moment.

“We should save these for later,” I said, poking at a protein bar. “When we’re hungrier.”

His eyes went to the door. “We probably won’t need them. We’ll be out of here before we’re hungry.”

He said that with so much confidence it almost doused the nerves that had been buzzing through my body since being locked in here. No, the nerves started when my phone was locked up.

“But yes,” he said. “I agree. We save the food.”

“I call the book,” we both said at the exact same time.

“Oh,” he said, meeting my eyes. “Yeah, you can have it first.”

“Maybe we switch off in an hour?” I suggested.

“How will we know when an hour has passed?”

True. I still wasn’t sure exactly how many hours we had already passed in here. “Maybe we switch off after each chapter.”

He nodded. “That’ll work.”

I pushed the binder and pens toward him and picked up the book. It was a fantasy, Beau’s favorite. But this wasn’t one I’d ever seen on his bookshelf. In fact, I’d specifically checked it out because I wanted to read something he hadn’t. Some weird, “in your face” move. Not that I’d planned on telling him. And then I didn’t read it and I didn’t return it and it became a weight on my back, another thing that reminded me of him.

I took my hoodie out of my backpack, wadded it into a ball, and lay back on it. I caught him staring at my makeshift pillow, obviously jealous that I was somewhat comfortable. There wasn’t a big enough truce in the world that would make me want to share it. He could figure out his own lounging arrangements. And he did. He went back to his place on the counter, wedged himself into the corner, and rested my binder on his knees.

When he turned back the cover, like a bolt of lightning I remembered some writings I’d done months ago, venting about him and Ava and Caroline. I launched myself off the floor and across the room.

“Hold up!” I said, yanking the binder out of his grip.

His eyes went wide. “What?”

“Just need to clean this up a bit first. Why don’t you start with the book?”

“I don’t want to start with the book now. I want that.” He pointed to the binder and slid off the counter.

“You don’t. I promise.” I walked back to my spot, sat down with the binder, then held up the book, raising my eyebrows at him.

He nodded and I tossed it to him. It bounced off his fingertips and landed on the floor.

“Who’s the more athletic one, again?” I asked with a smirk.

“Rule one.”