JAKE AND I

He guides me to the bed where I lay down. He sits up against the headboard and I use his lap as a pillow. My attention homes in on the light touch of his fingertips against my back.

Time passes, but not enough. He starts to get up, but I latch my arm around his waist. With a furrowed brow, he looks down at me.

“Stay,” I request.

For a second I'm terrified he'll still go, but he nods, then loosens his collar. Without removing the hand from my back, he unbuttons his shirt and strips it from his body. He slips down onto the mattress with me and wraps his arm around me. I snuggle close and wait for sleep.

And wait, and wait, and wait...

JAKE

Dawn breaks gently,shafting pristine morning light through the blinds of the motel room. Anna lies still beside me, her breathing slow and deep. The breath of untroubled slumber.Finally.

It took nearly all night for her to accept sleep’s grace. Little twitches against my arm informed me that she kept startling awake every time she began drifting off.