All Chapters of TANGLED:,Crazy For You: Chapter 81 - Chapter 87

Hazel I woke with Silas’s arm around my waist and the new sheets gathered near my knees. Morning light had reached the wall beside the bed, but the rest of the room remained quiet. His watch sat near the lamp we had chosen together, and my book rested facedown on the chair.Silas was still sleeping.I stayed beside him longer than I needed to. Since returning to university, I had started measuring my mornings by class times, assignments, and the number of messages waiting on my phone. That morning, I allowed myself to remain where I was.Being close to him after everything we had shared still brought a little shyness. It came without regret. The night belonged to us, and the care he had shown afterward mattered as much as the desire that brought us there.I moved his loose bandage away from the edge of the blanket. The cut on his hand had nearly closed, though the skin remained red across his palm. He opened his eyes while I examined it.“You are checking again,” he murmured.“You ke

MayaLeo arrived with a toolbox, two paper bags, and a long wooden box balanced against his shoulder.I opened the door and stared at him.“What did you break?” I asked.“Nothing.”“That is disappointing.”He stepped inside and placed the box against the wall. “You said the bookshelf arrived.”“I said the bookshelf arrived. I did not ask you to build it.”“You sent me a photograph of the instructions.”“I sent it because the instructions were ridiculous.”“You sent it with six angry messages.”“I was expressing myself.”“You wrote, ‘If this shelf collapses, I am blaming the manufacturer, the delivery company, and every man involved in its design.’”“That was a calm message.”Leo carried the toolbox into the living room. “I brought sandwiches.”I closed the door behind him. “That changes things.”He had become familiar with my apartment during the past few weeks. His coat had occupied the same chair often enough that I had stopped moving it. A second mug waited beside the kettle becaus

Leo povMaya’s apartment key had stayed on my ring for three days before I used it.I carried it everywhere, though I had no reason to take it from my pocket. It sat beside my car key and office key, small and plain, yet it demanded more care than either of them. Maya had given it to me with rules. Call first. Leave when she asks. Never use it because worry has turned into an excuse.I understood the rules because she had made them clear.Following them was another matter.On Thursday evening, I stood outside her building with a paper bag of groceries in one hand and my phone in the other. I had called twice. The first time, it rang until voicemail answered. The second time, she picked up long enough to tell me she was in the shower and would call me back.That had been forty minutes ago.I looked at the key on my ring, then put it back in my pocket.The front door opened behind me. Maya came out wearing an oversized sweater, jeans, and damp hair gathered over one shoulder. She carrie

Hazel The first flowers opened on the apple tree the week I finished my last exam.I found them while carrying two cups of tea into the garden. Three small white flowers had appeared on the highest branch, and a fourth sat lower down near the wall. I placed the tray on the bench and stood beneath the tree with my hand raised toward them.Silas came through the garden doors with a folded shirt over one arm.“You found them,” he said.“I found four.”“There were three yesterday.”“Then the tree is working harder than you.”He joined me beneath the branches and looked up. His hair was still damp from the shower, and his sleeves were rolled over his forearms. He had been awake since early morning, though he kept insisting he had slept well.“You have been checking this tree every day,” he said.“I planted it.”“You helped plant it.”“I held the shovel.”“You held the instructions.”“That was important.”He smiled and placed the shirt on the back of the bench. “Maya will be here soon.”“I