Excerpt: Satellite

“You just coming in?” she asks, her voice light and airy with sleep. Automatically she curls herself against me, fitting in, the warmth of sleep over her skin.

“Just. Yeah,” I whisper, my voice sounding very awake compared to hers. My hand slips along her arm, crossing my chest and I lift her hand to kiss her fingertips gently. “Still trying to come down.”

“It was a good one,” she mumbles, trying hard to have a conversation with sleep pulling her away from me.

“It’s okay, Baby,” I tell her. “Sleep.”

She nods in agreement and drifts back, sighing contentedly and I feel her body sink harder against mine.

I am still wired, but think now, at least, I’ll stop fidgeting. Definitely coming down and waiting for the crash. In the meantime, I’ll rub my fingertips over her arm softly, letting my fingers on the other hand twist her unruly curls around my finger – seeing how much, how tight, I can get the curl around it. Release. Repeat. It’s silky, soft which always amazes me. I don’t know how girls do it; all the potions, lotions and product. I do it and it looks greasy and wet and crunchy. She does it and it’s silky and smooth – same with her skin.

My hand slides down her spine, just the top of her back exposed with the tank tip she’s wearing – and it rides up slightly to her waist. She’s soft and warm and just radiates comfort and peace.

That’s why she’s here. She reminds me that in all this mayhem and rush-rush, there’s comfort and peace waiting for me. Softness and warmth that will soothe any of my fears and bring me back down to rest.

As I realize I’m asleep, in that between state, I feel her turn away from me to stretch her torso alongside mine. She still fits against me, moves in her sleep to find me. Do I do that, too? If we’re apart, does she spend the night trying to find me in her sleep like I do her? When did we become so dependant on one another to rest completely? How does that actually happen?