I nodded, then passed out.
* * *
The sound of birds singing felt more like woodpeckers attacking my skull. Not to mention, the Colorado sunshine beaming in my face. I groaned, rolling over and my face landed on a hard chest. I opened one eye and saw Orion grinning down at me.
I closed my eye again and sighed, snuggling closer to him. “What time is it?”
“Nine.”
I kissed his chest.
“How ya feelin’?”
“Like—wait!” I sat up. “Nine?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit!” I squeaked, throwing the covers off and noticing I was just in my panties and T-shirt. “Where are my clothes?”
“On the chair,” he said, nodding toward the window. “What’s wrong?”
I jumped out of bed and started dragging my clothes on. “I have my microbiology exam. In…” I glanced at the clock, “…twenty-two minutes. Shit, shit, shit!”
Orion slid out of bed and I tried to ignore the fact he was buck naked. “What do you need from me?”
“A bathroom, a toothbrush, maybe a comb, and a huge cup of coffee…to go.”
He nodded to the wall behind me. “Bathroom’s behind that door. There’s a toothbrush and comb in there. I’ll grab coffee and meet you downstairs.”
“Okay,” I said, and rushed through my truncated morning routine, then headed downstairs to find Orion waiting for me with a travel mug of coffee and a muffin. “Oh my god, thank you,” I breathed out and made a run for my car.
I slid into my seat with barely three minutes to spare. I hoped I didn’t need to pee, because the doors were about to be locked for the next two hours.
Raquel
BY THE TIME I pulled up to the townhouse, my body and brain were mush. I practically crawled inside and up to my room, flopping onto my bed just as my cell phone buzzed. I moved just enough to take it out of my pocket and put it to my ear. “Hello.”
“You sound wiped,” Orion said.
“That’s an understatement. I just want a hot bath and my bed.”
“How about you do that, and I’ll grab dinner?”
“I don’t know if I’m up to a vigorous night, Ori.”
He chuckled. “No pressure. I’ll feed you and you can sleep.”
“Oh my god, that sounds amazing, especially if it’s Chinese.”
“I can make that happen, Razzle. What do you want?”
“Surprise me,” I breathed out. “But I definitely want broccoli beef, broccoli chicken, and noodles.”
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s good. Unless you want to grab shrimp rolls.”
“I can do that.”
