“What made you want to design buildings?” I asked.
He shrugged, his back still to me. He was wearing a white t-shirt that draped too perfectly across his broad shoulders, his shoulderblades visible underneath, the fabric hugging his chest and looser at his waist. I wanted to touch him. Comb my fingers through his onyx curls, taste his brown skin?—
“I think it just made sense,” he said, derailing my thoughts. “It looked nice. Something about it scratched an itch just right.”
His voice went smooth at the tail end of that sentence…made me warm. I’d been warm too much lately.
“And there was a pretty girl enrolled in the class,” he added. “I wanted to meet her.”
I bit my lip. “And did you?”
Still wasn’t looking at me. He sighed. “Yeah.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I could feel the hurt in it.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.
Now he turned around, letting the grilled cheese sizzle in the pan.
“Nobody told you?” he asked. “I guess…I figured Haven would’ve mentioned it. Something about it being good for me to have company.”
“She hasn’t told me anything.”
“Oh.” He paused and crossed his arms tightly, like he was trying to protect himself. “Um…it feels fucking trivial compared to what you’ve been through, but…I was engaged. Her name wasSophie. We were together for six years.” He stops again. “She died,” he finished. “COVID. All of a sudden and she was just…gone.”
My breath caught.
“Forrest,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
He swallowed hard and turned back to the stove.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I mean—not really okay, but it was a long time ago.”
I sat at the table and looked awkwardly at his sketches, twisting my hands in my lap. I had no idea what to say…no idea what to do.
“What happened to me isn’t that bad,” I said. “I haven’t had someone die.”
He looked over his shoulder. “You don’t have to make it seem that way. I saw…we talked to Mr. Daley today.”
I went still.
“You did?”
“I didn’t want to tell you until you felt safe,” he said, “but yeah, we did. He was at the fence with a few other men. Gage warned them off, made it clear they’re not welcome on our land. Didn’t say we’d ever seen or met you.”
I licked my lips. “He knows I’m here, doesn’t he?”
“Not as far as I know.”
I stayed seated as he dished out the soup and sandwiches, then he came over to set them down. He carefully tidied his sketches and put them on the counter, then he sat too.
Then he looked me in the eyes, leaning over his food. “You’re safe,” he said. “I swear.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I know,” I said. “Thank you.”
We ate then—sitting in companionable silence, just enjoying the food. He’d been right; it was comforting, even though it was hot outside. I cleaned my plate in what felt like seconds, and Iknew he would be fine with it if I went back to my room…but I didn’t want to.