#Chapter 27: …Two steps back

Nan’s POV Lionel leans in closer…. It’s like the world around me narrows down to him. I can feel his fingers tighten slightly around my arms. The point where our skin touches like a mark etching on my skin. Heat radiates off his skin. It always has. ‘If I laid my head on his chest, would that warmth burn or soothe,’ I think unexpectedly. The moonlight casts his face in shadow. Soft beams highlight his sharp jawline. ‘Moonlight suits him best,’ I goggle at him. Even his eyes look different than usual. I’d always noticed they were an earthy brown. In the sunlight, they are melted chocolate. Just like Patti’s and Vera’s. The color has become my favorite. But here, his eyes are impossibly dark. Yet I can see speaks of green scattered through. Not enough that I could call it hazel. More of the spares green leaves of early autumn as the world turns to shades of brown and orange, summer’s end not quite there. Seen only once I am close enough to notice. Another part of Li