Alistair grips my ottoman and pulls. Our ottomans affix, his legs stretched along the edges with my crossed legs in between. “How do you feel?” he asks. I avoid looking at him, but he lifts my chin and stares right into my eyes. “I need to know, Amy. I don’t want to scare you. Do you need some time to cool down?” It’s him that needs the break.
Nevertheless, I close my eyes and take a lung-full of breath. I deserve it anyway. If something like this is going to scare me away, I shouldn’t have asked to know more. To let us come this far in the first place.
“I’m okay now,” I tell him. “You can go on.”
He examines my face, reaffirming my words, and nods to himself a little. “Okay. Look out the window.” Our gazes move to the dull shades of navy and indigo tracing the sky, stippled with stars
