“Do you think there’s something wrong with me?” I asked, and I felt nervous just asking the question. I supposed that’s what I was really worrying about. “First the whole thing in that house, and then these two incidents, and although I don’t remember the house, the other two times I remember sort of zoning out. Do you think, I don’t know, like, I have a medical condition or something?”
We were pulling up to my house, and Corbin parked the car before he reached over and grabbed my hand. “Sebbie, I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with you, but if you’d feel better getting checked out, then do it.”
“Why do you think I keep zoning out?” I asked.
Corbin opened his mouth, but Crow ruffled her feathers and cawed, interrupting him. They looked at one another for a moment, and then Corbin brushed my hair back and rested ahand on my cheek. I leaned into him, closing my eyes. He was so warm, and it was so nice to be touched.
“I think,” he said slowly, “that sometimes our brains do interesting things. They make associations, they make decisions, they know things sometimes that we aren’t ready to consciously know.”
“Yeah, I know that happens with trauma and stuff, but I don’t have any trauma. I don’t know why I wouldn’t remember the house. I deal with dying people all the time.” I shrugged, unsure why my brain was apparently playing games with me.
We sat for a moment, but Crow cawed again, and I could sense her impatience. I laughed and pulled back, opening my door. I got out and Crow flew out after me, landing on my front railing. I really hoped Corbin was planning to come in, so I kind of didn’t give him an option. A little underhanded, perhaps, but if I didn’t ask and I didn’t say goodbye, he kind of had to come in, right?
It worked, because he shut the car off and got out, following me up the front steps. I opened the door and ushered both Crow and Corbin inside.
“Do you want anything? Did you eat dinner? I ate something at the hospital, but I have plenty of stuff here if you’re hungry,” I told Corbin, taking off my shoes and heading towards the kitchen.
Corbin grabbed my hand, stopping me, and pulled me in for a kiss. It was slow and languid, and he tasted like something. Our tongues played with each other, tips touching, until he sucked on the tip of mine, making me groan.
Crow cawed again, and Corbin sighed as he rested his forehead against mine. “I swear, she’s never this needy.”
I laughed, because if this was Corbin’s idea of needy, he’d never had a dog. I walked over to where she’d landed on the back of a kitchen chair.
“I have some nuts for you. Would you like a little snack, beautiful?” I asked her.
She bent her head down, and I gently rubbed at her feathers. She cooed at me, and then one eye looked into mine. I felt a little zoned out looking into her eye, like I could almost see something. The picture of a man on a boat flashed through my head. Me on a boat. Not just a man. Me.
I thought about the river. Would I see the people who died today in my dreams tonight? Because I didn’t think I wanted that. Although I could control my dreams a little bit, I couldn’t control everything.
“Stay with me?” I blurted out, still staring at Crow.
Shit.
I turned to Corbin, already opening my mouth to backtrack, because that was a little fast and a little crazy, but Corbin was smiling at me.
“I’d love to,” he answered.
Relief flowed through me, and I smiled back at him. It gave me the warm fuzzies to know I didn’t need to be alone. Plus, I got to spend more time with Corbin. Was it weird that I’d missed him today, too? Because I really had. I’d thought about him all day, and I was glad he was here with me now.
I was staring at him while I was sort of thinking, and I noticed again how incredibly sexy he was. I was suddenly looking forward to him sleeping over for entirely different reasons.
Crow ruffled her feathers, and I swear she sent me a disgruntled look. I laughed, because Corbin was right—she really was a little attention hog tonight.
“Don’t worry, beautiful, you’re welcome to stay, too,” I told her.
“No, she’s not,” Corbin grumbled, and I laughed again.
I was glad both our minds seemed to be heading in the same direction.
Chapter 19
Corbin
You can go outand roost in the forest with the rest of the crows, just like you do EVERY NIGHT, I told Crow in my head.
She was fluffed out and staring at Sebbie adoringly.
You are NOT roosting with Sebbie and me, I told her.
