I reached up and tenderly ran my fingertips through her hair. Down her arm. Over her back. Anywhere she would let me while still remaining appropriate. Any rigidity left in her body dissolved as my palms rubbed tension away. We stayed like that for a good long while. Me massaging, her melting. She was…falling back asleep? I stilled, listening to her breath. It had deepened. I hadn’t planned on sleeping here, but I wasn’t going to be the one to make her move.
