Page 41

ARELLA

Since Caleb is out of town, I don’t have to wait until after he’s fed and off to work to head to my thinking spot.

I don’t know what time Trey usually gets there, but he’s always already there when I arrive around seven thirty.

Tonight, I want to spend as much time with him as possible, so I leave my apartment early with hopes that he’ll already be there.

And he is.

When I emerge from the woods at the top of the hill, Trey’s gaze flicks from the book in his lap up to me, then his expression brightens.

“Hi.” I’m breathless from the way he’s staring at me so intently.

“Arella.” I’ll never get sick of hearing him say my full name. He peels his eyes off me to glance at his phone. “You’re two hours earlier than usual.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Fuck no. I’m ecstatic.” It’s good to know that someone feels that way about seeing me.

I lay out our blanket as Trey shoves his book into his backpack. “How far did you get in your reading?”

“About halfway.” He sits across from me on our blanket with his legs crossed. “I’ll probably finish it on my flight home tonight.”

“What time is your flight?” I hope it’s not early, because I plan to stay here for as long as he stays.

“Whenever I get to the airport and purchase one.”

“You don’t have a flight booked yet?”

“Nah. They’ve got flights leaving LA to New York every few hours. I’m willing to pay whatever, and I don’t care if I have to wait, so lately, I’ve been getting on whatever is available.”

I’m flattered that he makes so many accommodations just to be with me. “Do you ever have to wait long for a flight?”

“Sometimes, but I don’t mind. I’m never in a rush to get back to New York. The only thing I’ve got going on there are my Monday afternoons with my therapist. The rest of the days, I’m basically just killing time until I fly back to LA.”

I imagine him in his big fancy penthouse all alone. The scene depresses me, so I imagine myself there with him. That’s better.

“Do you still talk to your therapist about me?”

“Occasionally.” In Trey speak, that means all the time .

“What’s the last thing you told her about me?”

“That you let me hold you, and that it wasn’t because you suddenly remembered me.”

“Do you have any idea how that might have happened?” Because I’d like to make it happen again.

“Not a goddamn clue.” The pang of sadness that crosses his eyes tells me he’s speaking the truth. It also tells me he wishes he knew just as much as I do.

My guess is that seeing that spider triggered my traumatic memory of being attacked by spiders, which must have triggered my mind into remembering him. I’ve seen more spiders since then, but my mind has stayed the same.

Suddenly, Trey perks up with a smile. “Can I show you something?”

I return his smile and eagerness. “Sure.”

He stands, then offers me his hand. I don’t hesitate to take it. “Do you know how to climb a tree?”

“Not really.”

He gestures toward the lowest branch of the oak tree. If I stick my arm up, I could touch it without having to step onto my tiptoes. “I’ll give you a boost, okay?” he says.

“Why are we climbing this tree?”

“Because I wanna show you somethin’.”

“And we have to climb a tree to see it?”

His smile drops as he gives me a come on look. “Put a little faith in me, will ya? You’re gonna like it. I promise.”

With his help, I hoist myself onto the lowest branch, then climb onto the next one.

“Don’t go any farther. Wait for me.” Trey makes climbing the tree look easy.

With one swift motion, he’s already up and next to me.

His warm hand presses against the small of my back to steady me, but I don’t need the support.

I’m clinging onto this tree so tightly, a hit from Thor’s hammer couldn’t make me fall. “You good?”

I nod.

“Cool. Now climb up three more branches.”

My eyes go wide. “Three? That’s pretty high, Trey. If I fall, I’ll break something.”

He lets out a little scoff. “Do you really think I would let you fall?”

Good point. I reach for the next branch and climb up. Three branches later, I’ve got leaves in my face.

Trey climbs up next to me with a huge grin. I don’t know why he’s grinning like that. This branch we’re standing on could break any second. I’m surprised it hasn’t already.

I cling onto the branch next to me. “All right, mister. What’s so cool that we had to climb a tree to see it?”

“Shh.” He places a finger against his lips. Then he whispers, “Turn around.”

I match his hushed tone, even though I don’t know why he’s whispering. “Um, I’m not sure if moving on this branch is a good idea.”

He places a hand over my waist. “I won’t let you fall, baby. Promise.”

He just called me baby . And it felt so normal.

With his confidence in the sturdiness of this branch, I slowly turn around, then gasp. A plump bird is curled up in her little nest, sleeping.

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “She’s beautiful.”

Trey keeps his voice low too. “She’s got eggs beneath her. I saw ’em earlier.”

“How did you know she was up here?”

“I noticed her flying in and out while I was reading, so I climbed up to check it out.”

I resist the urge to pet the bird. “Aw. I can’t wait to see when her little babies hatch.”

“See? I told ya you’d like this.”

“How did you know I would?”

“You find joy in the little things in life, and this is one of them.”

We stay in the tree, watching the mama bird sleep for another minute before Trey helps me climb down.

Once my feet have returned to the ground where they belong, we sit on top of our blanket and talk as the sun sets. It’s not until after the stars are twinkling that I realize I haven’t needed to take out our questions box yet. There hasn’t been a single lull in our conversation.

We’ve talked about nothing yet everything at the same time.

Trey told me the story of how he met Liz.

He shared stories about some funny things that happened while he was on tour with his band.

I cried from laughing so hard. He even willingly told me about seeing his parents’ death, which was a huge step for him.

Now he’s telling me about the time he woke up in a hotel room with a naked bartender in his bed. “I left that hotel with my head spinning, feeling pretty disappointed in myself.”

I gaze at him, admiring his perfectly trimmed stubble and the way he’s so comfortably sharing things with me. “Why were you disappointed?”

“Because it shouldn’t have happened, and I told her so. She assumed I was married.”

“Why?”

“Probably because I didn’t fuck her that night and was sober enough to ask her to leave the next morning.”

I’m not complaining, but... “Why didn’t you have sex with her?”

“According to her, I couldn’t get it up.”

My jaw drops with a laugh. “What?”

“I was so wasted, I don’t even remember it. How do you expect me to perform under those circumstances? She said I was a good kisser though.”

If he kisses anything like the way he does in my dreams, that woman is right. “Was she good?”

“Hell if I know.”

For my benefit, I’m going to tell myself she was terrible. She probably used too much tongue and was sloppy about it.

My stomach rumbles so loudly, it makes Trey chuckle.

“You hungry?” he asks.

“A little.” I tuck some hair behind my ear.

“Maybe you should go home and make something to eat.” He pulls his phone out from his backpack to check the time. I don’t miss how he hasn’t taken out his device once since I arrived. “Shit. It’s almost midnight. Shouldn’t you be gone by now?”

Usually, I’m looong gone by now, but tonight is special. “I can stay as late as I want. I have tomorrow off.” Because I took it off with the intention of staying out late.

“When does Caleb usually get home from work?”

“Around four in the morning.”

“Shouldn’t you be home before he gets there?” It’s endearing that Trey cares enough about me to even think about making sure I’m home before Caleb is. I’m sure if it was up to Trey, he’d keep me here forever.

“You don’t have to worry about Caleb. He’s out of town.”

“What for?’

“Rakesh’s grandma’s funeral.” I found out yesterday that Caleb never even met Rakesh’s grandma, so I don’t understand why he felt the need to go to her funeral. Even if it was just to be supportive for Rakesh, taking three days off work to be at the funeral of someone he never met seems excessive.

Trey’s eyes light up. “So what you’re saying is that you’re free to get some late-night pancakes with me?”

I nod eagerly. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”