While You're Awake by Amber Stokes Read Free Book Online Page B

came around
her shoulders, and he tucked her into his side and urged her to lean into him.
She’d never felt relief so strongly as she did when she wrapped her arm around
his waist and gave in to the pull to settle into his embrace.
    Eventually they came to
the tree line, just as the sun began to dip behind it. Keegan released her so
they could face each other.
    And he told her. About
why he had hesitated when she asked about the dogs. About his fears that he
couldn’t help her in lasting ways. About the nightmares that haunted him—even
now.
    She cried. She tried to
stop, not wanting to add to his burden, but he was breaking her heart by
showing the brokenness of his own.
    “Hey, it’s okay.” He drew
her back into his arms. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just…thought you
should know that about me. Since I know your fears.”
    She swiped her sleeve
across her eyes and cheeks. “My fears don’t come anywhere close to what you’ve
gone through, Keegan. Surely you know that.”
    He brought up his own
hand to help brush away the tears dripping from her chin. “Fear is fear.
Anything that holds us back from life and the love we can give—all of it’s
powerful. No matter what causes it. Any kind of paralyzing fear should be
acknowledged and then fought against. Don’t you think?”
    She nodded. “I’m so sorry
for what you went through. I wish I could help you, the way you’ve helped me.”
    “Just being able to talk
about this with you—just spending time with you—you’ve already helped me.”
    Ava had to bite her lip
and blink quickly to keep from crying again.
    Keegan looked up at the
ever-darkening sky. “We better head back.”
    While summer was rapidly
approaching, the night air still held a chill. Ava rubbed her arms.
    It was then that a
buzzing sound filtered into her mind. She spun around, toward the woods. “Do
you hear that?”
    Keegan latched onto her
arm. “Ava…”
    “It’s a hive, isn’t it?”
Her heart started pounding. It sounded close. She squinted into the tree
line—and not but ten feet away, she could see bees buzzing around a hollow
trunk.
    Keegan took a step back,
bringing her with him. “It’ll be fine. This is their natural habitat, remember?
This is where they belong. As long as we don’t bother them, they won’t bother
us.”
    She tore her gaze away
from the tree and tried to read Keegan’s expression. Tried to breathe.
    Keegan’s grip on her arm
was steady. Comforting. She let him pull her along. One step. Then another.
    Something zipped by her
face, and she squealed, swatting the air with her free hand. Making contact
with something. Something that pinched her finger. “Oh!” She flung her hand out
and brought it quickly back to her chest.
    Wide-eyed, Keegan dropped
her arm and reached for her other hand—the one she now cradled in front of her.
“Was it…? Did it…?”
    Despite the throbbing in
her finger—no longer a phantom feeling but a reality—Ava laughed. The tears
from earlier leaked out of the corners of her eyes because, goodness ,
the sting did hurt. But nowhere near as bad as she had spent the last month
imagining it to be.
    “Ava, are you okay?” Even
in the darkness, Ava could see Keegan was watching her warily, like she was
about to go into a fit of hysterics. So she forced herself to wipe away the
tears and offer up a brave smile.
    “I’m fine. It hurts, but
it’s just a sting.”
    Keegan studied her a
moment longer, then smiled back and grasped her uninjured hand. “Then let’s get
you back so we can take care of you.”
    The moon peeked over the
town in the distance as they rushed back through the wild grass and into the
house. Keegan settled her onto the couch and then walked over to the fridge.
Ava watched in silence as he pulled out an ice pack and rummaged through her
drawers until he found a dish towel to wrap it in.
    He returned and knelt by
her legs. “Can I see it?”
    Only then did she realize
she was clutching her