In the Weeds (Lovelight, #2)

by B.K. Borison

I hear the fumble of a glass and a string of creative curse words. “Maine Beckett? Hot, tattooed Beckett?” She sucks in a breath through her teeth and when she speaks again, her voice is three octaves higher. “Out of the ordinary, Evie is finally cutting loose, one-night stand Beckett?”

I’ve always struggled with noise. It sets my teeth on edge, makes me feel like needles are pricking at my skin. The earmuffs muffle the sound without wiping it out completely. I can still hear what’s going on around me without an overwhelming wave of tension.

“You are an absolute fucking idiot, Beckett Porter.” I shove another cookie in my mouth

Has she not been happy? It’s hard to imagine Evelyn feeling anything other than absolute joy. Filled to the brim with—fucking sunshine and butterflies. The last time she was here, she had a permanent grin on her face, her laugh loud and bright as it slipped through the trees.

But that’s the thing about happiness, I guess. You can show whatever you want to the world and not feel a lick of it inside yourself.

“Does he—” she breathes out a shaky exhale. “Does he only have one bed?”

“Stop doing that,” he finally says. “What?” “Making yourself seem smaller than you are.”

“For your happy. Where do you think you’ll find it?” “I don’t know.” I curl my hand around my glass until the condensation tickles my palm. I’m busy thinking about my answer when he finds one for me. “Cause I think it’s still in there somewhere.” He gestures in my general direction with his bottle. “You wouldn’t glow like that if it wasn’t.”

“What the hell is she doing here? Oh my god.” Jeremy bends at the waist and presses his palms to his knees. “Do you think she’ll do a video with me? Oh my god.” “What is that sound you’re making?” It’s a wheezing noise, high pitched and irregular. “Do you need water?”

“You had a dream.” “Found a new one,” he answers, smile kicking up the corner of his mouth. He leans back in his chair and tilts his face to the night sky, the stars beginning to wake. “And I got to keep the stars with me.”

A field of wildflowers, rolling out from the base of the hill in a patchwork quilt of color. Blue and purple and a smattering of rich gold, the sight of it so quietly beautiful that I don’t hesitate to walk right in the middle of it all and lay flat on my back.

“Yes, I’m warm enough.” I’m too warm, but every time I try to take this damn sweatshirt off, Beckett looks like he wants to wrestle me right back into it. Which could be fun, but I’d much rather him wrestle me out of

“The last time you were here—” He cups my face with both of his hands and presses a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose, the space between my eyes. Everything in me shivers and melts, and my hands grasp at his elbows. “The last time you were here, I wanted to kiss you under this tree.” “You hid it well,” I murmur as I follow his retreat, silently begging for more. “Nah,” he says, his voice a rasp. “You just weren’t looking close enough.”

“Beck, what’s going on?” he sighs. I grunt. “I’m digging a hole—” “I can see that.” “—for your body.” He snorts a laugh into his coffee mug. “That’s nice.”

“Everyone has a lot of ideas.” “Ideas about what?” “For me to tell you how I love you,” she says simply, like she’s not driving that shovel in the center of my chest and breaking my ribcage right open for all her sunlight to come pouring through. A smile starts in her eyes, nudging at her bottom lip until she’s standing there and grinning at me, looking like every happy thought I’ve ever had. I take a step closer and she tilts her head back to keep her eyes on mine. “Josie’s suggestion involved fireworks.” “Don’t need fireworks,” I grit out, my voice rough and tight. My hands ache to hold her. “Just need you.”

“Honey,” I cup her face in my hands and smooth my thumbs across her cheeks. I drop a kiss to the tip of her nose, the little dip at the corner of her mouth. I close my eyes and exhale. “Did you find your happy today?” I feel her grin when she kisses me. “Yes,” she whispers into my mouth. “I did.”

He found his happy in me. Like I found mine in him. In us. In this.