Sunny

The shop door opened at five thirty and I glanced up as Lulu and Ruby walked in.

“We’re here to take you out,” Lulu said.

Ruby smiled. “We’re in the mood to dance and we’re taking you with us.”

“Me?” I blurted, then bit my lip, hating how much that revealed.

Lulu frowned. “Yes, you.” She planted a hand on her hip. “We’ll wait while you close up.”

The looks on their faces told me they were not going to take no for an answer, and surprisingly, I didn’t want to say no. I wanted to go, have some fun. Everything had been so crazy lately. Good and bad, and a night out to blow off steam sounded kind of amazing. Julia had stayed with me for only two nights then Zeke had found her a place to stay like he said he would. An apartment with excellent security. I’d helped set her up and tonight was her first night there. I’d offered to hang out with her, but she wanted to be alone. I got that. And as much as I wanted to go there anyway, I had to respect her need for space. I had no idea what she was going through and I’d do whatever I could to help.

People doing what they said they would was kind of new to me. But once again Zeke had done just that. I was working out that was the kind of man he was. Which was great—it was. He meant what he said and he said what he meant.

“A wife, kids, it’s not for me, not anymore.”

His words rang through my head and I shoved them back out. They shouldn’t hurt, not when this was something I already knew.

I smiled, as bright as I could, not going there, not tonight. “I’m in.”

“Awesome,” Ruby said. “Now let’s close up so we can go to your place and doll you up.”

The club was packed when we walked in several hours later. We’d had a few wines at my place and something to eat before we came out. Well, I’d had one drink, barely. I usually enjoyed a few glasses of wine, but I just didn’t feel like drinking. Whatever, I didn’t need alcohol to have a good time. I was in a fantastic mood. It was hard not to be around these two. They were superwomen in my eyes. They’d shared a little of their stories with me tonight, the hell they’d been through. I admired them so much for their strength.

I’d never really had friends, or been included in much of anything. To be out with these women. To have . . . friends. It felt kind of incredible. Like the band geek being invited to the head cheerleader’s party. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been out dancing. The last time I’d had anyone to go out dancing with. So yeah, I was flying on a natural high right now, and I wasn’t in a hurry to come down.

“Goddamn,” Ruby said against my ear, so I’d hear her over the music. “You look hot, girl. Every male pair of eyes in the club is on you right now.”

I shook my head and laughed. They’d been teasing me since we left my house. It’d taken some talking to get me into this outfit. It was bright blue and clingy, the back dipping dangerously low. I’d had it in the back of my closet for a couple of years and never worn it. The silver stilettos I had on were gorgeous. I loved them as soon as I’d seen them, but I’d only worn them twice, since I hadn’t had many reasons to take them out of the box.

And despite what Ruby said, the eyes were on them, not me. Lulu and Ruby looked stunning. Lulu’s long red hair was down. She had on a green dress, also clingy, highlighting her killer curves, but hers was low cut in the front, and she had on black heels. Ruby had her own style, sexy and edgy. Her pleated leather skirt just covered her butt, and paired with black, spike-heeled boots and a pink tank with strategically placed slashes, showing glimpses of skin, and a pink streak in her hair to match, she was a knockout.

Lulu appeared back at our sides after going to get drinks and handed one to Ruby, since I wasn’t drinking. They downed their shots in one, then Lulu grabbed my hand and we headed for the dance floor. The music was awesome and we stayed out there, dancing and laughing, for what must have been hours. I’d never had so much fun in my life. Lulu nudged me when a good song started and threw her arms in the air. I did the same and, embarrassingly, a wave of emotion hit me out of nowhere. My nose started to prickle and I had to breathe evenly when tears threatened to spill over. How sad was that? Not to mention humiliating. God, I wasn’t even drinking and I was getting weepy.

Ruby grabbed my arm. “You okay?”

I nodded, offering a watery smile.

Lulu noticed as well and a second later they were pulling me aside.

“Something’s wrong,” Lulu said. “Did we do something to upset you? Were we too pushy?” She bit her lip. “We can be kind of pushy.”

My face heated, humiliation crawling up my neck. I had to be honest, or they’d worry. I refused to let them blame themselves, even to save face. “Honestly, there’s nothing wrong,” I yelled over the music. They’d closed in so they could hear me. “I’m just so . . . happy,” I said. “I’ve never . . . done this, had this, and . . .”

Whatever I was going to say was cut off when they pulled me in and hugged me between them.

“Group hug!” they both yelled.

Then we were laughing and dancing again.

A little while later, some guys approached us, and like the others that had come our way at different times during the night, they vanished just as quick without even a word from any of us. Thank God. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with drunk guys trying to cop a feel.

“If I didn’t appreciate being able to dance grope free so much, I’d be pissed at their macho antics,” Lulu yelled over the music.

Ruby turned her head, looking at something over her shoulder, then back to Lulu and threw her head back, laughing her ass off. “Look at Neco’s face. The dude looks like a psycho killer.”

Lulu started giggling. “Hunter looks seconds away from throwing me over his shoulder and dragging me home.”

“He better not!” Ruby cried. “No way am I ready to leave yet.”

That’s when I noticed Ruby and Lulu’s partners against the wall not far from us. Well then, that explained why we weren’t getting harassed. Lulu turned and gave Hunter a finger wave. The guy smirked then gave her a look that made me actually blush. Ruby on the other hand put some extra swing in her hips and looked at Neco over her shoulder. Neco did not smirk, he smoldered.

Jealousy struck out of nowhere. And I realized that I wanted someone to look at me like that, even after all my shitty luck. I wanted a man to scare away other men and promise dirty things with his eyes. Someone to share my day with and cuddle on the couch. To hold hands. Laugh. Kiss.

I’d convinced myself that wasn’t for me, and I’d been lying to myself. I wanted all of it.

And I wanted it with Zeke.

My heart started thumping hard. I couldn’t let myself feel that way. I just couldn’t, for my own sanity. But it was too late, wasn’t it?

Which was bad news for me, because besides taking Julia to her new place, he was back to his routine of arriving in the middle of the night, leaving early, making sure I didn’t mistake what we were doing for anything more than it was.

I pushed it out of my mind, refusing to think about it, and focused on the music.

About half an hour later, another couple of guys approached, moving in close, wide smiles on their faces, one of them leaned in to say something to me then glanced over my shoulder and his smile dropped, eyes kind of widening. He straightened and his elbow shot out, catching his friend, then his gaze shot over my shoulder. The pair of them backed up and were gone a second later. I smirked at Lulu and Ruby opposite me. “Which one of your badasses scared them off this time?”

Ruby’s eyes were locked on something behind me and Lulu’s were kind of wide. “Not ours,” she said. “Yours.”

I stopped dancing. “What?”

A small smile curled up Ruby’s lips. “It was your badass, not ours.”

I turned slowly, and sucked in a sharp breath. Standing against the wall with Hunter and Neco was Zeke. His eyes were locked on me, and they weren’t just smoldering, they were on fire. The heat from them burning me alive. My belly flip-flopped. Holy hell. I had no idea what to do, so offered him a tentative smile. His expression didn’t change, stayed impossibly intense. God, he was beautiful. Terrifying. Sexy as hell.

A faster song started and Lulu grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my daze.

“Don’t even think about it,” Ruby said. “No sneaking off to bone. The night is young.”

I was painfully aware of Zeke behind me after that, could feel his eyes on me, blazing over my skin, heating me up. Was he as affected as I was? As turned on as me? I loved every minute. Let myself pretend that this was my life. That Zeke was mine, that these women were my best friends, that there would be more nights like this in the future. It was frightening how happy I felt just from allowing that fantasy.

I knew it was a bad idea, entertaining these thoughts. It was only going to hurt more when my case was solved and Zeke moved on, when Lulu and Ruby went back to their lives. But I couldn’t help it. I wanted to pretend, just for a little while longer.

It was after midnight when Hunter finally came over and led Lulu out of the club. I felt butterflies as Neco and Zeke walked toward Ruby and I. We were sleeping together, we’d gotten closer when I stayed at his place, but he wasn’t mine, despite spending the night pretending otherwise. So I didn’t know what to do when they reached our sides. I wanted to lean into him, wrap my arms around him like Ruby did Neco, but I couldn’t do that.

So I turned to him and offered a wide smile. “Hey.”

He didn’t smile, he lifted a hand, curled his fingers around the back of my neck and tugged me into his side. “Ready to go?” he said.

My pulse picked up speed. “Yes.”

He heard me over the music, or at least read my lips, because his eyes were locked on my mouth. Ruby gave me a quick hug and Neco gave Zeke a chin lift then we were walking through the club. I was so distracted, so aware of the man beside me, I stumbled over my own feet before we reached the door. Zeke growled, grabbing me around the waist, hauled me against him, and kept on walking.

He led me to his truck and opened the door for me. I climbed up. Zeke rounded the front and climbed in beside me.

I turned to him. “You didn’t need to come pick me up.” I fumbled with my seatbelt and he growled again, pushed my hands out of the way, and did it for me.

He started the truck and pulled out. “I went to your place, you weren’t there.”

I frowned at his tone. “I didn’t think . . .”

“I told you I was coming over this morning, Sunny.”

Huh. Was he actually pissed off at me? “Are you angry?” I asked, because I sure as hell couldn’t figure this man out and I guessed just straight out asking was my best bet.

He glanced at me. “I was worried out of my fucking mind when I got there and the place was empty. You weren’t at the shop and you didn’t answer your phone.”

I opened my mouth, closed it. “I didn’t think . . . you, um . . . you don’t usually come over ’til it’s late, usually the middle of the night. I didn’t think I needed to . . .”

“You need to,” he growled. “Until we catch this guy, you tell me where the hell you are.”

Oh yeah, he was angry. “Hunter and Neco were there and so was Ruby. By all accounts she can kick ass with the best of them.”

He was looking straight ahead, jawline hard. “I don’t give a fuck.”

Were we . . . was this our first fight? I thought it might be, because he wasn’t the only one getting pissed off. “I’m not used to answering to anyone, Zeke. Reporting my whereabouts. I do what I want when I want . . .”

“Get used to it,” he bit out

Whoa. “I beg your pardon . . .”

“Woman, you will be begging, soon as I get you home.” His voice was low and extremely rough.

I shivered at the dirty promise I heard. No Sunny. Be strong. This, his attitude, was not cool. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re overreacting. I was fine.”

“I was going out of my fucking mind with worry. I only found out where you were ’cause Nec texted me. Then I get there, and you look like that.” He flung an arm toward me. “Dancing, guys watching you, desperate to get under your fucking skirt. Didn’t make me happy, Sunny. Not one fucking bit.”

Oh my God.

“You’re jealous,” I whispered.

“Who are you fucking?” he said, voice nothing more than a rumble.

I swallowed. “You.”

“Exactly.”

Then he said no more. Like that was an actual answer to the insanity, the confusing as hell words, he’d just thrown at me.

“Just because we’re having sex doesn’t mean you get to be all bossy and controlling.” I owed him a lot, but I didn’t get this. He’d told me more than once he didn’t want more from me than sex. Why would he care that other men were looking at me?

“You’re my responsibility.”

Ouch. “I’m so sorry for being such a huge burden,” I fired at him. “I never realized what a chore it was for you to spend time with me.”

He growled. Apparently, I’d pushed him past the point of actual words.

I bit my lip, because I got the feeling he wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore, and honestly, neither was I.

But then he said, “You might not get this, ’cause it’s pretty obvious you grew up in a way that was seriously fucked up. But this needs to sink in.” He glanced at me. “I care what happens to you, Sunny. I don’t get out of your bed in the morning and forget you exist.” He thumped a hand down on the steering wheel and cursed. “I need you to goddamn get that.”

I sat there, stunned. Not sure what to make of what he said and unable to think of a single thing to say.

He drove me home in charged silence, and as soon as we reached my house, he was out of the car, rounding it, and tugging my door open.

I looked up at him, expecting to see more anger, but what I saw instead, the look in his eyes, had me swallowing. Hard.

Zeke

The woman thought she was a burden.

Jesus Christ.

She had me by the balls . . . shit, the throat. I was consumed by her, obsessed. I wanted her all the time and she was never out of my goddamn head. I’d fucked up, badly. And apparently, I was still fucking up, because there was no way in hell I could walk away from her yet, even though it was the right thing to do. When Nec texted me, telling me Sunny was at the club, I was relieved. She was safe, she had people I trusted with her, watching out for her. Then I got there . . .

Another growl teased my throat, but I bit it back, and held my hand out. “Let’s go,” I said to her.

Her breathing had quickened. She was turned on. She was also confused as hell over my behavior. She wasn’t the only one. But the woman didn’t have the first goddamn clue. Did she really think what happened to her, what she did, didn’t matter to me? After everything, after all the shit that had gone down?

After all the nights we’d spent together?

She was also pissed the hell off, and let me know by ignoring my hand, lifting her nose in the air, and stomping past me. It would piss me off more if it wasn’t so cute. Add in that tight dress molded to her tits and ass and I was as close to feral as I’d ever been. My control had slipped, vanished, and I had no intention of reining it back in, not yet. Seeing her like that, so beautiful and sexy, that bright-as-the-sun smile on her face as she laughed and danced with Ruby and Lulu—it had hit me, hard. Whaled on me over and over again until I was past the point of thinking straight. All I could think was once I was gone, someone else would have her. She’d belong to someone else. They’d be the recipients of her sweet, soft nature, her bright smiles, her gentle touches—her sexy-as-fuck moans and cries of pleasure—and there was nothing I could do about it. Yeah, maybe that was for the best. She deserved someone a hell of a lot better than me, and it was selfish. But I didn’t want anyone else to have her. If I even thought about someone else touching her, I wanted to hunt the faceless bastard down and end him.

Not good. Not good at all.

Because nothing had changed. Nothing.

I knew all this, and still I had no intention of leaving her alone, not yet. Yeah, so damn selfish. But I planned to have as much of Sunny as I could, until this was over and I had to walk away. So when she stood at that the door fumbling with the key, I moved up behind her, pressed into the curve of her soft ass and reached around, taking the key from her.

I slid it in slowly and leaned in, mouth going to her ear, drawing in her scent. “You pissed at me, darlin’?”

She stayed where she was. Didn’t try and move away. “Yes.”

“You wet for me?” I asked, fingers sliding down the bare skin of her exposed back, fingers digging into her waist. The dress was low, so low I could almost see the top of her ass. My head had nearly fucking exploded when I first saw it.

She drew in a sharp breath. “Yes.”

I shoved the door open, walked her in, and keeping her pinned to my front, reached back, shut the door, and quickly disarmed the alarm—then I turned to her, grabbed her, lifted her off the floor, and slammed her into the wall.

She gasped. “Zeke . . .”

I brought my lips down on hers and ground my hard dick against the softness between her thighs. “How wet?” I said against her mouth.

She moaned.

“Hand in your panties, Sunny. Tell me.”

She blinked up and me, biting that plump lower lip.

“Now,” I said.

One of her hands left my shoulder and burrowed down between our bodies. Shit, as soon as she touched herself another moan slipped free.

“Tell me,” I repeated.

She squirmed against me. “So wet. I-I’m hot and so wet.”

Fuck.

“Hand out,” I said. “Let me taste you.”

Another moan, but she did as I asked. Lifting her hand from between her legs and to my mouth.

I sucked her glistening fingers, licked them clean then shook my head. “Not enough.”

I lowered her to her feet then sank to my knees. Shoving her dress up around her waist, I tugged her panties down and off and buried my face against her pussy. Now it was my turn to moan. So fucking good. I pressed a hand to her belly, holding her steady against the wall, and lifted her legs over my shoulders and went deeper, eating her, licking her, fucking her with my tongue until she was quivering and begging for my cock.

Dropping her legs to the floor, I stood, scooped her up, and carried her upstairs to her room. I put her on the bed then tore off my shirt and jeans. Her heavy-lidded eyes were on me the whole time.

“Edge of the bed, Sunshine. Hands and knees,” I said.

She crawled back, dress still around her hips, pussy bare, slick and ready for me. I tugged her back more, shoving her legs wider, making her gasp then lined myself up and plunged deep. She cried out and I gripped her hips and hammered into her, taking out all my frustration, all my confused feelings of guilt and want, and the deepest most terrifying feeling of longing I’d ever experienced, on her. She squeezed tight around me, clamped down so damn hard it should hurt. It felt amazing. Perfect. My mind blanked and my hips snapped forward and I fucked her harder, driving into her with brutal thrusts. She screamed, coming around me, her pussy working my achingly hard dick, pushing me to the brink. I slammed in deep, and stayed there, grinding into her, letting her feel every intense pulse of my cock as I emptied myself into her. I should be disturbed by how much I loved that, how much I loved knowing my come was sliding down her legs afterward. Marking her as mine.

She’s not yours, asshole.

I pulled out carefully, and Sunny dropped to her side on the bed. She was still in her dress, hitched up around her waist. Her hair was spread across the covers and she was breathing heavily. I wanted to crawl on top of her and have her again. Shit, I wanted to climb inside her and never leave.

That thought had me spinning away and striding to the bathroom. I leaned over the bathroom counter, splashing my face with water. What the hell are you doing? Leave and don’t come back. Van would take over her case if I asked him to. He’d make sure she was safe. He wouldn’t ask questions, he’d let me retreat, back to where I was before Sunny walked into my life. Nah, that was bullshit. Van wouldn’t let me do shit. Maybe once he would have, but he’d been on my case more lately. And as much as I didn’t want to acknowledge it, I was different. I felt different. Sunny had done that.

Yeah, I should leave. I wasn’t going to, though. Instead, I walked back into the bedroom, helped Sunny out of her dress, ’cause I wanted to feel her skin against mine, and climbed in beside her.

Fuck.

Sunny

The shop had been crazy busy. I didn’t know what caused the influx of customers, and usually I’d be thrilled. Today, though, I wanted to crawl under the desk, curl into a fetal position, and puke. Zeke had dropped me off at work this morning, after my crazy night with Ruby and Lulu, followed by more crazy, of a different kind, with Zeke. Crazy weird . . . then crazy hot. The man had me confused and mixed up and in a constant state of arousal.

On top of all that, I was tired as hell. Zeke had kept me busy most of the night, and when he had fallen asleep, he’d tossed and turned and groaned in his sleep. He’d been having another nightmare, but this time I hadn’t woken him. I didn’t want him freaking out on me, or worse, to walk out. So I’d laid beside him, curling into him, or tried to, attempting to soothe him in his sleep. It didn’t work.

I forced a smile and handed the woman in front of me her new necklace—that’s when a wave of nausea hit, so intense, I slapped a hand over my mouth.

She started. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, cutting her off then waved a hand to get her moving. The last thing I needed was to throw up in front of a customer.

Something wasn’t right. I’d put off going to the doctor, assuming whatever this was would pass, but it hadn’t. Just when I thought I was okay, it came back with a vengeance. Like really bad motion sickness.

A thought I’d been trying to suppress, to ignore, pushed forward and this time wouldn’t allow me to lock it away.

Could these symptoms be something else? Could I be . . .

God, I struggled to even think the word it seemed so insane, but could I be . . . pregnant?

We hadn’t been using protection since that first time . . .

No, this was crazy.

But I needed to consider the possibility, didn’t I?

Thirty minutes later, I’d shut the shop, and was in my bathroom at home, a pregnancy test upside down in my hand. The instructions had been straight forward, and even though I knew this was ridiculous, that there was no way I could actually be pregnant. My heart was pounding so hard I felt light-headed as I waited for the two minutes to count down.

The timer on my phone sounded and I sucked in a shaky breath, my belly in knots, even though I knew there was nothing to worry about. I shook my head. “Why the hell am I nervous?”

There was only one result this could be. I flipped it over . . . and froze solid.

Two pink stripes. There were two.

I stared at those two pink stripes, not sure what to do, what to think. Could I believe this? People got false positives all the time, didn’t they?

I checked my phone. It was nearly four. Screw it. I grabbed a cab to my doctor’s.

The waiting room was full when I walked in, but they said they could fit me in if I didn’t mind waiting. I should probably tell Zeke where I was. God, Zeke. What would I tell him?

There’s nothing to tell, not yet.

I pulled my phone from my bag. He’d acted in a way that did not say casual hookup or even fuck buddies last night. His behavior screamed possessiveness. I hadn’t known what to make of it, and I still didn’t. But he was concerned for me, so I pulled my phone out of my purse and fired off a quick text telling him where I was. He knew I hadn’t been feeling well, so me coming here shouldn’t set off any alarms.

Less than a minute later, my phone beeped.

How’d you get there?

Cab.

You should have called me.

I frowned down at my phone. I hadn’t lied last night—I wasn’t used to answering to anyone. I wasn’t stupid, and I wasn’t the kind of person to take risks, either. I’d taken a cab, which I’d caught on a busy street. He had nothing to worry about, and honestly, all this over-the-top macho possessive behavior was messing with my head. My head was already all over the place. Throwing this into the mix wasn’t fair. I wasn’t a fan of mixed signals. And he certainly gave me some last night. Casual hookups did not get jealous.

I care what happens to you, Sunny.

They didn’t tell you they cared, either.

I was feeling all these things when I replied to his text. Why would I do that? I fired back.

I read it over a few times. Yep, it definitely sounded bitchy. I shook off the niggling guilt. Confusion mixed with a constant clawing lust, and now fear of what the doctor might tell me, could do that to a girl. If I was being a bitch, it was his own damn fault for being so damned confusing. His reply took longer this time. Finally, my phone beeped.

Text me when you’re done. I’m picking you up.

Again, with the bossy crap. No, “would you like me to pick you up?” Oh no. And what did him picking me up mean? Did it mean he was spending another night with me? Did I want that? Did I even have a choice? I didn’t really think booty calls worked this way. He was spending every night with me, not leaving in the night like he used to, but actually sleeping with me. There was snuggling involved and sweet kisses good morning and goodbye.

I growled under my breath.

God, now I was growling like him. Though, I wasn’t really complaining about those growls. They did things to me, very good things. I snatched up a magazine from the little table beside me. My mind whirled, throwing everything at me, anything to stop me from thinking about why I was here.

It was after six by the time I got in to see Dr. Evans. She smiled when I walked in. “Take a seat.”

“Thanks for fitting me in.”

“No problem.” She tapped at her keyboard. “So you said you’ve been throwing up?”

“Yes.”

“Any other symptoms? Fever, aches and pains?”

“I’ve been more tired lately.”

“Right.” She tapped at her keyboard again.

“I took a pregnancy test,” I said.

She looked up.

“It was positive,” I whispered, the words even having trouble leaving my lips. “It can’t be right, though, can it? You know the chances of me getting pregnant are unlikely.” Dr. Evans knew my medical history, that the chances of me ever conceiving were extremely low.

She tilted her head to the side, eyes softening. “Unlikely, but not impossible.” She tapped at her keyboard some more. “We can do another test here.”

“Can we do a blood test?” I asked. I wouldn’t believe anything else.

“Of course. How many periods have you missed, Sunny?”

My periods had always been extremely irregular. It wasn’t unusual for me to miss one or two. “One, I think.”

She nodded, did some more typing.

Fifteen minutes later, she’d drawn blood and I was walking toward the exit. Pregnant. I didn’t even want to think about it being true, refused to expend energy putting myself through an emotional wringer when I knew that blood test would absolutely come back negative. Dr. Evans said I’d have the results tomorrow. I texted Zeke just before I went into my appointment, so wasn’t surprised to see him standing there when I walked out.

He pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and strode right up to me. “You look pale.”

The bitchiness I felt earlier had drained clean away. I was just happy to see him. Maybe that made me weak, but right then I didn’t care. I didn’t want to be alone right then. No, that wasn’t completely true. Being alone I could handle; being without Zeke was what I couldn’t deal with.

“I had some blood drawn. I’m not great with needles,” I said.

“Do they know what’s making you sick?”

I swallowed the lump that immediately formed in my throat. I shook my head. “I should know more tomorrow.”

He took my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

When we got to my place, he sat me on the couch and warmed up the chicken soup he’d bought me before he picked me up. Chicken soup. Now he was being sweet as well as confusing. The man was killing me. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Once I finished eating, he lifted me off the couch then he lay back, taking me with him, curling me into his side. He flicked on the TV.

We were snuggling.

On the couch.

Watching TV.

Did he have any idea what he was doing to me with this? I was strong, but not that strong. Not when the man I’d realized I was in love with, the same man I couldn’t have because he’d made it clear he wasn’t in this for anything permanent, was cuddling me, after all the other sweet things he’d done for me that afternoon.

God, after staring down at a positive pregnancy test a few short hours earlier.

I could not deal.

Still, I stayed put. Because I couldn’t make myself get up, either. It felt too good right where I was. I’d just lay with him for half an hour, then I’d make an excuse and get the hell off this couch.

I woke three hours later, in my bed, Zeke pressed in close behind me.

So much for my plan, and I was too tired to even attempt to put distance between us.

I’d be strong tomorrow.