AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He did as she directed, then leaned back against the tree, covering his face with his hands as he sucked in deep breaths.
"Eli, listen to me." She took his hands and pulled them away from his face. He was alarmingly pale, and it scared the shit out of her. "Watch me, okay? Please. I promise, this breathing exercise will help."
He nodded, and for the next few minutes they sat there, doing the deep breathing exercises until he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. "I feel a little better."
"Good. That, my friend, was a straight-up panic attack." She squeezed his hand. "And probably way overdue."
"How did you know?"
"Personal experience," she admitted. "They suck."
He rubbed his temples and sighed. "I'm sorry, Holly. I didn't mean to take that shit out on you. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just fucked up. I'm so fucked up."
"Apology accepted. You're under a tremendous amount of stress, Eli, and you've been carrying all of this around forever. Am I really the only person who knows?"
He swallowed, then glanced down at the ground. "Yeah. I just can't tell my friends, Holly. Not now. I can't."
She stared down at their intertwined hands, overwhelmed with emotion. She wanted to hold him and tell him everything would be okay, but she couldn't make that promise.
And holding him... well, it was just another line she shouldn't cross.
"Are you ready to go home?" she asked. "You look beat."
He took another gulp of water from the bottle. "Yeah. I'm fucking wiped."
"Okay. Then let's get the hell out of here."
* * *
Holly tossed the keys to the sports car down onto the counter.
"Thanks for letting me drive. The circumstances weren't the best, but I loved it."
"Sure." He kicked off his sneakers. "Fuck. I need to go brush my teeth for like an hour. Ugh."
Holly laughed. "Yeah, I know that feeling. I'm going to go feed Miss and head to bed." She hesitated, then put a hand on his arm. "Get some rest, okay?"
"I will." He smiled, but it didn't touch his eyes. "Thanks again."
"You're welcome."
After using the washroom and changing back into her pj's, she fed the cat, then decided to check on Eli one last time.
He sat on his bed, leaning back against the headboard as he stared at the wall.
"Eli?"
He turned his head toward her. "Yeah?"
"Are you going to be okay?"
"It's not manly if I say I'm not," he answered. "Right?"
"No. That's bullshit."
“Considering everything I did to lose my man card tonight, that means a lot."
"Enough with the macho crap. You didn't lose anything." She climbed across the king-sized bed and sat next to him, then gave his sleep pants a gentle tug. "Lie down. You need rest, Eli. You're really pale, and you look so wiped out."
