A red light flashing on my cell phone was the first thing my eyes focused on, but I didn’t check my voice mail. Sweat poured down every inch of my body, and the sheets were soaked. I didn’t remember much of the nightmare, but enough to know what the whole thing had been, something I didn’t want to think about.

Slipping on a pair of boxers, I shuffled my feet to the freezer and reached for a bottle. It didn’t matter what kind I got as long as I drowned myself into it or at least my thoughts. I only had two to choose from anyway.

I set the cap on the counter behind me because I wouldn’t need it. I was finishing this bottle tonight…or morning, depending on how you looked at it. My sleep schedule was so fucked up— this was my morning. I hadn’t seen daylight in a few days now.

This wasn’t who I wished I were—wasted all the time, sleeping through the day, and drinking all night. I was a coward for not facing my nightmares, but at least I wasn’t hurting anyone.

I found my couch, and Mulder, my Pit, groaned in protest as I sat beside him. I didn’t bother turning on the lamp. There was enough natural light shining in here from the moon, which surprised me given how heavy the rain was coming down. He opened an eye, cocked his head sideways, and then readjusted himself, getting comfortable. A soft snore came from his mouth, followed by a long loud one. My sleep schedule might be off, but nothing about his was. He could sleep anywhere and did if I let him.

With the bottle pressed against my lips, I watched the bubbles form and disappear as I chugged away my sorrows. Thunder rumbled and then lightning took its place, filling my living room. A weather tone came from my cell in the bedroom, and I knew I needed to get to Homer’s before we lost power. He always closed during power outages.

It was a quick jog to Homer’s. I could have brought my car, but I had a strict no drinking and driving policy. Nowadays, I drank more than I didn’t, so my car hadn’t moved in quite some time.

The rain fell against my skin and traveled down my arms. The cool breeze was enough to give me a chill, but it felt nice. Closing my eyes, I tipped my head upward, letting the raindrops streak my face as I caught my breath.

The neon sign wasn’t on in Homer’s window. Shit. I was too late. The power must have kicked while I was on my way. His door opened, and I expected to see him coming out to lock up and go home. Eris smiled into the shop, and then her eyes landed on me. We hadn’t seen each other since we were together. I’d made sure of it. I locked myself in my house. Other than nightmares, she was all that had been on my mind. She was amazing, and I was horribly wrong when I told myself if we had sex, we’d be out of each other’s systems. At least for me it made the situation one hundred times worse. I hadn’t thought so much about sex since I was a horny teenager, shoving porn magazines under my mattress.

She brushed her blonde hair behind her ears and tucked a brown bag under her arm, slowing her pace as she walked to where I was standing. My body ached the closer she got. Everything in me wanted everything about her. I was speechless.

She stood toe-to-toe with me, but neither of us spoke. Rain soaked her clothes and they clung to her curvy frame. I was already drenched, so I didn’t care to get out of the downpour. I knew I should walk away from her, and she sure as hell should run away from me, but neither of us moved. Her chest rose and her breathing seemed uneven. Mine definitely was. Despite every reason I had told myself we shouldn’t have been together in the first place, I couldn’t remember even one of them now.

Her tongue rolled against her bottom lip, and I bit mine to keep from taking her mouth with my own.

“Hi, Drex,” she barely said in a faint voice. Looking down, she took the bottle from the waterlogged paper bag and tossed the bag into the nearby trashcan.

With two words my entire body felt her. My mind replayed her voice, trying to remember one reason we shouldn’t be together. I came up empty. My mouth went dry, as though she took my voice with her own. I didn’t know where to go from here, so I forced myself to answer her.

“Hello, Eris,” had only just left my dry lips before I bit them again, trying to maintain my composure and not lead her into the alley behind Homer’s. It wouldn’t be romantic, not that our first time was necessarily, but there was nothing appealing about having sex beside a dumpster. Even I drew the line somewhere.

A small smile touched her lips before she laughed to herself. “Wanna share?” She lifted the bottle up and shook it. Her blue eyes searched my face for an answer, and after a few seconds, I remembered I could speak.

“Why not,” I agreed, not wanting to show how much I wanted to share a lot more than liquor with her tonight.

We’d barely made it into her apartment before our wet clothes started coming off and were thrown to the floor. Something needed to be said, but I had no clue what to say to her. We weren’t known for saying sweet things to one another, and I was far from a romantic guy.

“I’m cold,” she said, leading me down the hallway by the hand and putting my hectic mind to ease.

“Me, too,” I agreed, forcing myself to answer, not wanting to be rude.

We entered the bathroom, and her free hand twisted the knob to turn on the water. I balled my fist up and straightened my arm to my side to keep from bending her over. Not sure that wasn’t what she wanted, though. She was dangerous, but so was I. I wanted to be a gentleman, but I wasn’t sure what one would do in this situation, so I just waited to find out her plan.