Wait. Why am I starting to think he knew exactly what he was doing? Is this how he gets as many girls as he does? Beyond being strikingly handsome and charming, he embeds a sexual phrase into women’s minds, and then they just can’t help themselves. He’s not a sex god, he’s a sex genie.
I finish up in the shower and put on a clean version of nearly the exact same outfit I wore yesterday. Raeann designed a whole line of sweatshirts with the Pet Threads logo on it just so I could have something to wear that wouldn’t catch on my bandages. So, yay for sales, but I don’t think they were meant to be worn day after day like some sort of teenage cry for attention.
I’m about to slip out of the room when my new phone buzzes. My face flames like Levi is standing in front of me, and since I know he’s a sex genie now, he’ll already be aware that I had the most outlandish dreams about him. I cross my arms and tap my foot on the ground, staring at my pillow where I hid the phone underneath so Raeann wouldn’t find it. I start to walk back out of the room, but stop almost immediately. No one else has that number so I know it’s Levi, and there’s just this pull I can’t ignore.
I march to the phone and pull it out, heartbeat kicking up a notch.
Levi: Good morning, Rapunzel.
The phone buzzes again while it’s in my hand, just when my heart did a little skip from the nickname Rapunzel. It’s so corny…but also sweet. Or it could be because that name played a role in my fantasies last night, paired with a little hairpulling.
Levi: Don’t be shy.
Me: Good morning, Levi.
His reply is almost immediate.
Levi: There she is. I thought about you last night.
Me: Oh, really? I didn’t think about you at all.
Thank the heavens for being on the phone because I never would’ve been able to pull off the lie in person. I can feel the heat licking at my cheeks.
Levi: You wound me.
Me: I doubt that, Playboy. I think we had a similar conversation yesterday.
I smile, almost sitting on the bed to continue this conversation with him because it’s fun. However, the pesky throb has turned a little more painful, so I place the phone back under my pillow and head out to the kitchen. I grab my meds, double-checking to make sure I have the morning pills correct, and then place them over on the island before getting water.
I’m just swallowing the first one when Raeann comes out of the room. She stops, confusion sweeping across her face, then concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I tell her, then take the second pill.
She eyes me warily. “Usually I get your pills. Do you know?—?”
“Which ones to take?” I giggle a little. “I’m not that much of an invalid.”
I shake my head at her, but the truth is, Raeann really has been running things. This is the first time since I’ve been home that I’ve been out of bed before her. Something I used to do all the time before the fire.
“You’re a good friend,” I tell Raeann as she heads to the refrigerator and takes out some eggs.
“The best,” she replies, beaming at me while she gets out a bowl and a whisk.
A door opens from the room Raeann just walked out of, and the both of us look up to find Micah with a towel wrapped around his hips. He’s stopped mid-stride in the same place Raeann did.
“Tab.”
“Micah.”
He pulls the towel closer around him, and I try to avoid looking even though abs and my eyes are like magnets for each other.
“You’re not usually up.”
“I’m turning over a new leaf.”
When he doesn’t say anything, I peek up to find his entire face red. I quickly look away when our eyes meet again.
“Awkward…” I whisper to Raeann. Athena, who escaped when Micah walked out, sits next to me and licks my hand. I pet her as Raeann laughs.
