Read Online Between Black and Sunshine by Haven Francis - Free Book Online Page A

that are punched along the top with large grommets- curtains. Protruding from the center of the left wall is a large wood panel painted with an abstract dreamy scene that I recognize as Luca’s work. I walk to the middle of the room and see that the other side is a large book case. “Did you make all of this?” I ask him.
    “Yeah. Couldn’t afford to buy anything, so Anthony and I get resourceful around here. We’ve actually been selling some pieces… fucking unreal, the amount of money people will pay for wood that’s nailed together.”
    “Huh,” I manage to mutter, looking at his king size bed tucked in next to the book case, managing to feel intimate in this massive space. It’s covered with an array of quilts and blankets. It looks soft and comfortable. It looks like Luca.
    I spin around on my heel to look at the other side of the room. There is a large metal tool chest on casters. “Tools?” I ask him
    “Clothes.”
    “Creative,” I tell him.
    “Resourceful,” he corrects.
    Another large book shelf is built between it and a massive wood desk, this one lays flat against the wall. The shelves hold his enormous collection of vinyls and c.d.s. It also holds his turntable and receiver and whatever else all the black boxes are. I look up and notice small speakers in all four corners of the room. “That’s so you,” I tell him.
    “It is my room.”
    “Yes. I know.”
    In front of the music shelf is a large, worn armchair with a mismatched ottoman. There is a wood end table beside the chair. I can picture him here; his long legs spread out in front of him, lying back, losing himself in any one of the thousands of options in his collection.
    “I love it here. This room is the best part.”
    “Does that mean you’ll consider staying here, with me, tonight?”
    I turn to him. “What the hell happened to my Luca? The one who spooks if I look at him the wrong way. The one who makes sure to tell me every day that I’ll never be his.”
    “That’s not what I tell you. I tell you I want you safe. That you deserve someone that can make you happy. That I’m not that guy.”
    “In other words, I’ll never be yours. Don’t try to sugar coat it. It’s rejection no matter how you spin it.”
    “I would never reject you.”
    “You do it every day. Get yourself a damn dictionary.” His sexy lips pout at me and I smile back at him. “I’ll stay. You know I want to stay.”
    He comes to me and grabs a hold of the back of my thighs, picking me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. “Let’s get you in your jammies then,” he says, walking me over to the bed and gently setting me on the end of it.
    He grabs a hold of one of the massive curtains and pulls it halfway across the wall before going to get the other half. When he has it closed a large beach with a sun setting into the ocean appears. The word Sol in written in the upper left corner. It’s perfect. “Someday,” I tell him looking at the large beer ad, assuming it’s Mexico; the place that Luca, Jonah and I always dreamed of escaping to.
    “You and me… someday,” he agrees. 
    He walks over to the doorway where I dropped my purse when I came in. “Arms up,” he says when her returns to me.
    Normally I would be all for showing Luca my naked body; it always leads somewhere I want to go and he rarely lets himself look at it. But I know the reason he’s asking me to take my dress off now is not because he wants to see my body, but because he wants to see how much damage has been done. “I don’t have a bra on, Luca.”
    “So turn around,” he tells me, serious now.
    “Luca, please,” I plead.
    “I need to see it,” he tells me.
    “Fuck,” I say, turning around, lifting my arms.
    He lifts my dress slowly. I haven’t seen my back but judging by Callie’s reaction and how bad it hurts, I know it’s not pretty. He’s taking it in one inch at a time. He’s quiet, but I can hear the long line of curse words running through his