Read Online Riptide by H. M. Ward - Free Book Online

he took it anyway to make me feel better . He put me first. No one did that for me before. I smiled and cried like a crazy person until Trystan’s shoulder was soaked with tears .
    Trystan kissed my temple softly and said, “Tell me what happened when you’re ready. I’ll always be here for you , Mari. And if anyone ever hurts you—” he left the threat hanging in the air. I nodded and pulled away.
    I sat down on my bed and before I knew it, I was recanting what happened last night. Trystan stood for a while and then he finally sat next to me. By the time I finished, he had his arms around me. “It’s stupid,” I sniffled. “I’m crying because I got yelled at. I sound like a brat.”
    “No, you don’t. ” He kissed my wet cheek and held my face between his palms. “ And that’s not why you’re crying. I know you, Mari. I know what this is about.” He stro ked my hair away from my face, and then I leaned into his shoulder, staring blankly ahead , not speaking . It was silent for a moment, until he whispered, “We’re more alike than I thought.”
    Lifting my head, I asked, “What do you mean?”
    Trystan didn’t meet my gaze. Instead he looked down and s tared the floor. “Our fathers—t hey seem to have unrealistic expectations. T hat’s all. It’s kind of paralyzing.” I nodded, wondering what his father did to him. Trystan seemed so hard, so cynical at times. He constantly had a wall up that blocked everyone out, but somehow I snuck through. “I was going to leave after graduation, but things kind of changed.”
    My heart beat faster as hope flooded through my veins. “You’re not going to enlist?”
    “And leave you?” he g r inned. “Nah, I’ll have to move onto plan B, which has something to do with staying here with you.”
    I threw my arms around him. Trystan embraced me and we stayed like that. I couldn’t help the smile on my face. When he pulled back, I said excitedly , “You should go down the Day Jones path and see where it leads.” Trystan didn’t look convinced. “Your songs are powerful, they speak to people, and I’ve seen you on stage—you glow. People can’t help but love you. You’d be really good at it.”
    Trystan’s gaze cut to hers. His mood was a tad off, apprehensive maybe. “You really think you’d want to share me with all those people?”
    “I want you to be happy.”
    “I’m happy here with you. You’re all I need.” Trystan’s thumb rubbed the back of my hand. His eyes drifted to my lips and I knew he wanted to kiss me again. Trystan broke the gaze, like he was trying to control himself, and looked at the clock. “It’s nearly 2:00am. You’re going to be a zombie tomorrow. You should get to sleep.”
    I nodded. Lethargy had been pulling on my body like giant sandbags. “So should you.”
    He looked down, and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. I will.”
    Liar. What’s with him tonight? I thought about it for a moment, what it could mean , and stumbled on the answer. “You don’t sleep, do you?” Trystan’s blue eyes lifted to mine, nervous like I’d wound him. “It’s okay. Listen, you can stay here until dawn, if your dad won’t mind. If you don’t want to sleep, you can watch TV downstairs, eat something—” He was staring at me with his lips parted slight ly . I couldn’t read his expression . Trystan seemed to be caught between terror and surprise and I had no idea why. “What?”
    Trystan smiled sadly and shook his head. That haunted look slipped away like it was never there. “Nothing. You’re just amazing. I’d like to stay longer, if that’s okay with you.”
    “Of course it is. Let me get ready for bed. I’ll be right back.” I dressed for bed, pulling on a pair of sleep shorts and a cami. I crawled in to bed , and pulled up the blankets. Trystan sat at the foot of the bed and smiled at me.
    “Will you stay until I fall asleep?” I blinked slowly, barely able to keep my eyes open.
    “ Sure , that’d