Crazy Dreams (9 page)

“My finger hurts.”

No shit.
“I know, hunny. I’m sorry.” My voice even sounded sincere.

“Will you kiss it?”

“No.” I wasn’t about to get close enough to him for him to touch me. I knew he wasn’t truly himself at the moment, and I wasn’t going to risk a kiss. Especially because if he was half as good at kissing as I suspected he was, I wouldn’t be able to pull away from him.

“You’re mean,” he mumbled before drifting back to sleep.

“Something like that,” I allowed, forcing myself to go back to my berries.

Stone

I woke up a few times during the night, but mostly, I slept. Every time I opened my eyes, Ember was there with a reassuring smile or kind word. She was keeping me safe, which helped me sleep.

It seemed off when I woke up the next morning and she wasn’t right there. I wondered if she went to her own room to sleep. My finger hurt like hell, but all that sleep and the pain pills were definitely doing their jobs. I’d always been a fast healer, so long as I got plenty of sleep. And I hated the pills. I wouldn’t be taking any more while I healed up.

I sat up a little on the couch and didn’t feel completely drugged up for the first time in twelve hours or more. My head hurt, but I expected it to. I got up off the couch, swayed a little and then went to the kitchen to get myself some water and something for my headache. Just as I swallowed the pills, Ember came into the room.

“What are you doing up?” she asked, her voice all motherly.

“I was parched,” I admitted. “And I needed some ibuprofen. The pain meds made me feel like shit.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling a little better,” she commented, walking closer to me. “How’s your finger? I really need to redress it, but I didn’t want to wake you.”

I held out my hand and Ember gently examined my wrapped finger. “Go ahead and redo it. I’ll just close my eyes.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, your little problem with blood surprised me.”

“Don’t tease me about it – I’m sick. You’re supposed to doctor me and make me feel better,” I whined.

“Whatever. You’re like the worst patient ever.” Her words didn’t match her tone. She was being sarcastic, but the inflection in her voice wasn’t quite so irritated.

“You like playing doctor. Admit it,” I challenged.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she huffed. “I’m just doing what needs to be done. If Dallas
were
here, I’d make him do this.”

“Liar.”

Her eyes flew to mine, her pupils dilated.

“You can’t hide from me,” I informed her.

“You’re more attentive when the drugs wear off.”

I laughed. “That’s usually what happens. I can pretend to be loopy again and ask for another blowjob.”

Her eyes flashed. “Oh my God! You embarrassed me so bad in the ER. I can’t believe you said that in front of the doctors.”

“I honestly didn’t know they were there when I said it. Plus, I was on drugs,” I said.

“That’s no excuse. Imagine if you’d said that in front of Dallas or Baker!”

“Baker?” I knew who he was but I couldn’t remember why he was important.

“Baker was Rainey’s husband. He’s a sweetheart and he thinks of me as his kid sister. He’s just as protective as Dallas, if not more so.”

I nodded.
Another brother-type
. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting Baker, but at least I didn’t have to worry about him at the moment.

“Baker’s coming by next week,” she announced, her eyes on my finger as she rewrapped the bandage.

I looked up at the ceiling and tried not to think about my cut open finger. I focused my attention on Baker, who was someone I’d never even thought of before, but if Ember’s words about him were true, she cared about him. His opinion of me would matter to her.
Dammit
. Another man in her life who probably wouldn’t like me.

Sure, Dallas liked me, but he already gave me his warning to stay the hell away from her. I listened real well to that warning. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Which meant Dallas was probably going to chop my nuts off when he found out how far I’d already gone with Ember. The fact that I wanted to go further was another issue.

I hadn’t been able to control what I blurted out while on pain meds, but I was back to my old self, so hopefully, she attributed my outburst to the drugs. It was sort of true. Except my drugged-up self wasn’t afraid of consequences, so I’d spoken my desires without worry of what would happen.

“All set,” Ember announced, giving me a smile.

“Great. Have you heard from Dallas at all?” I asked, thinking that maybe I needed to talk to him about Ember. He wouldn’t kill me. That’s what I told myself, anyway.

“Umm, no actually. I’ve been taking care of you and then trying to sleep,” she said.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll be fine from here on out,” I explained.

“Oh? So you’re going to change your dressing tonight?” She gave me a meaningful look.

“Umm, maybe I’ll just have you do that,” I said, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. Even just thinking about blood made me nauseous.

She laughed. “I thought so. By the way, Baker texted me at like three am. I guess he’ll be here this afternoon.”

Wait. What?
“Oh.” I didn’t really have anything else to say. I would have to keep myself in check around Ember while Baker was around. I was certain I could do it.

“He said he was going to call Dallas and see if he could come home for a day or two, so maybe if you need Dallas for something, you can call him and find out if he is coming home.”

“Yeah, I’ll go do that,” I agreed. “Have you seen my phone?”

“I put it on the charger in your room.”

“Great, thanks,” I said and walked to my room, dreading the conversation I was about to have.

My phone had three missed calls and two texts. It was Dallas. He didn’t leave any voicemails, but his texts said what he needed to say.

Dallas: I’ll be home in the afternoon.
Apparently,
Rainey’s husband is coming to visit Ember and expects me there.

Dallas: Where are you? Make sure the house is clean and answer me.

I took a deep breath and then dialed his number, choosing to call rather than text. It rang three times before he answered.

“Hey, man, where you been?”

“Sorry. Ember had to take me to the emergency room last night,” I answered.

“Shit. How come?”

“I sliced my finger cutting up tomatoes. I had to have stitches and she drove me,” I explained. “Everything’s fine now. It just hurts like hell.”

He chuckled. “I bet it does. My flight gets in at one o’clock. And then I guess Baker should be there around two.”

“Sounds good. Why does he expect you to be here? I didn’t even realize the two of you were close.”

“That’s kind of the problem. No one knows I let Ember come to Nashville and then left her while I took a job. It wasn’t how I wanted it, and I never expected to have to be gone for a week, but if Baker shows up and I’m not there, he’ll kill me. Ember is like a sister to him and he thinks she’s too young to take care of herself.”

“Got it. So you want me to tell Ember to not let him know you haven’t been here?”

“That would be awesome. I’ll talk to her when I get in, too. How are things going, anyway?” he asked the question I was dreading.

“They’re good. Ember and I are getting along very well.”

His voice turned stern. “Don’t fucking touch her, Stone. I swear to God, I’ll rip your balls off if you touch her.”

“For fuck’s sake, Dallas. It’s not like I’m a
eunuch
. I can’t help it if I’m attracted to her.”

“Don’t touch her.”

I wasn’t threatened; I was pissed. “She’s a fucking adult. If she wan
t
s to sleep with me, she’s going to, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. You just got done telling me that everyone from Maine would be pissed if they thought you left her alone, but you didn’t, did you? You left her with me. And that means you trust me, whether you want to admit it or not. I didn’t make a move on her, if that’s what you’re thinking. But we’re both attracted to one another. Don’t make it more than it is.”

“You think I’m kidding, Stone? I’m telling you, if you lay a hand on her, I will kill you in your sleep. She’s too young, too innocent for you. So just stop liking her right now,” he suggested.

“I’ll get right on that. Do me a favor… When you get on your plane, try to lighten the fuck up and don’t start shit when you get here. I called you to tell you how I felt because we’re friends. I don’t want to see you end things over her, but let me tell you, if you do, I’ll choose her. She’s special, someone I could actually see myself falling for in the future, and I won’t let you ruin it.”

“You could
fall for her
? It’s been less than three days, you dumb fuck. Get the hell out of my apartment. You better be gone by the time I get there.”

I sighed, expecting it. “I’ll be gone.”

He hung up on me and I tucked my phone in my pocket. Time to start packing up.

“Stone,” Ember said from the doorway.

“Hey, you didn’t hear all that, did you?” I asked.

She nodded with tears in her eyes. “Did you mean what you said?”

“Every word.”

She walked up to me, threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. It was sweet and pure, full of promise and hope. I let her guide the kiss, but when she opened her mouth to me, I couldn’t stop myself from ruling it. I thrust my tongue into her mouth, pulling her body flush with mine. She made little sounds in the back of her throat that drove me crazy. My hands were on her ass, keeping her close. She tangled her fingers in my hair, gripping the strands to keep my mouth on hers.

I finally pulled away to breathe and we were both winded. My body craved hers, but I knew I needed to get the hell out before Dallas got back. I set her away from me.

“I’ve got to get moved out,” I explained.

She pouted for a minute and then let out a sigh. “I’ll help you pack.”

I nodded my appreciation and went to my closet. I had several plastic totes stacked up and I pulled them out.

“How do you want me to pack?” she asked, grabbing one of the totes.

“You can just toss whatever in there,” I said, distracted.

“Where are you going to live?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure. I guess I’ll just put everything in my truck for now and hopefully find a place later today.”

She nodded and the two of us packed in silence. Less than two hours later, my entire room was packed up. I didn’t have much, it seemed, but we filled every one of the totes. I put all my clothes in fresh trash bags, which sucked, but I didn’t have a choice. I refused to go out and buy boxes.

When I went to leave, Ember kissed me sweetly, swiftly. “Once you’re settled, text me. I want Baker to meet you.”

Ember

I shouldn’t have felt the way I did. I was thoroughly depressed by Stone leaving. I knew Dallas had basically kicked him out, but the reality was, Dallas was just pissed and he would get over it. Especially once I had a little chat with him.

After Stone left, I called Dallas, but his phone went right to voicemail, which meant he was probably already in the air from wherever he was flying in from. I was stuck waiting for him to either call me back or show up, so I called Baker.

He answered on the second ring. “Hey, girlie.”

“Baker, Dallas is a jerk.”

He laughed. “I was wondering when you would figure that out. What did he do?”

“He kicked out Stone,” I said.

“Who’s Stone?”

“Stone was his roommate. He’s sweet and totally was trying not to be attracted to me, but things happened. Anyway, Dallas got pissed and kicked him out.”

“So the two of you slept together?” He sounded as pissy as Dallas.

“Oh, no! Stone wanted to talk to Dallas about the fact that he liked me because he felt like he should. He was trying to do the right thing, before anything too serious happened.” I didn’t tell him about the blowjob, but that could be Stone’s and my secret.

“I see. So he just kicked the guy out on the street?” I could hear the wheels turning in his head.

“Yeah. And Stone doesn’t have any place to go.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he promised. “I’m ahead of schedule, actually, and I’ll be there in an hour. Want me to pick you up?”

“Sure.”

“Alright, but first, tell me how you feel about this guy,” he demanded.

I should have known that was coming. “I like him. I mean, I’m not dumb enough to think we could fall in love in three days, but I really like him. And I could easily see myself falling in love with him, given enough time to get to know him better.”