Read Sleeping ’til Sunrise for Free Online

him. He was that rare combination of a doctor kids trusted implicitly and parents respected. If the town had a superstar, it was him, and while he enjoyed being needed, he still managed shy and self-deprecating at the same time.
    “So?”
    I returned my attention to Dwyer, reining in my wandering thoughts.
    “You back from your trip down memory lane?”
    “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a smartass?”
    He tipped his head like he was actually giving it some sincere thought.
    “Now, what’d you ask me?”
    His smile made his eyes heat. “About Roark, where are we at?”
    I huffed out a breath. “I dunno.”
    “What do you want?”
    “I don’t know that either. I mean, like you said, my plan was not to do anything serious until Ivy left for college, and then I thought, maybe I could just see Roark casually.”
    “Like he used to see Hutch,” Dwyer offered cheerfully.
    “Shut up.”
    “You don’t care that he slept with your next-door neighbor?”
    “It’s ancient history, according to Hutch.”
    “Okay. So what else?”
    “Meaning?”
    “Well, I figured you and Roark were gonna bond because you’re from the same place.”
    “We’re from the same state,” I corrected him, “not the same area. I’m from Detroit, Roark’s from Grosse Pointe. That is not the same, my friend.”
    “Like not at all?”
    I chuckled. “Worlds apart in socioeconomic status.”
    “Big words,” he teased me.
    “Well, let’s face it. He named the city to make it accessible when you asked where he was from, but he explained in more detail when I hit him up for answers.”
    “I see.”
    “Again, I’m from Detroit, from the city—he’s from a very upscale burg.”
    “Okay, so you have no common ground at all, then.”
    “Not really.”
    He shrugged. “Then let it go. You don’t need the hassle, right?”
    But the question was not about what I needed, instead, what I wanted. Half of me just wanted to fuck Roark, and the other half wanted to keep him. And I was terrified that he’d die and I’d be left alone again, and Ivy would have to deal with loss up close all over again.
    “I’m an asshole for even thinking about walking away just because I don’t want to get hurt. That’s weak.”
    “It’s not weak, it’s honest,” he assured me. “You did that already, nursed someone, cared for them through the very worst time. You were the good guy, the best guy, and you honored the whole in sickness and health bit even when you’d already been let out of the promise.”
    Yes, I had. Just the thought of doing it again was terrifying.
    “You have nothing invested yet—now’s the time to run the other way.”
    Except that running away felt wrong. It was a mess.
    “I think you should default to Ivy, right?”
    I met his gaze.
    “Your life isn’t really yours right now—it belongs to her. That’s what it means to have a kid, right? That’s what prompted Lazlo to iron out his clusterfuck of an existence. He had to straighten up for his daughter; don’t you have to do what’s best for yours?”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning that you have to consider what the best thing is for Ivy. Is getting involved with a man with cancer in this small town where everyone knows everybody else’s business really the best choice for her?”
    “It might be.”
    “Shouldn’t you know for sure?”
    Perhaps.
    “I bet Roark doesn’t want to be a burden.”
    “He could never be that.”
    “Come on, get up,” Dwyer ordered. “There needs to be more running and less sitting.”
    “But I haven’t figured anything out yet.”
    “I think you have.”
    “Could you tell me, then?”
    He grunted and started running. It took me only a few moments to catch up to him, and when I did, I realized he was right. I knew what I had to do.

Chapter Four
     
     
    I WORRIED about what I would say to Roark, but I shouldn’t have. It turned out he had to fly out to Grosse Pointe on family business, and he left town without a word to me.