Yes, that was a crime against humankind. Yes, I specifically wanted to ruin their day by not controlling what the lazy owner of this place ordered.
But I wasn’t in bed.
I was standing in front of my building, waiting for Eric to arrive.
Wrapping my arms around my middle, I looked to the left. A white car got closer, but it drove by without slowing down.
Fuck.
Why did it have to be so cold?
And why did I think not bringing a jacket was a good idea?
It was freezing.
A dark SUV came to a stop at the curb right in front of me, and the back door opened.
“Where’s your coat?” Eric said as he climbed out of the car, his eyes roaming over my body. He took my hand and hissed lowly, then basically dragged me into the car. “You’re cold. You need to take better care of yourself.”
I smiled at the way he was fussing over me.
Was it overkill? Yeah. A bit of cold air wouldn’t kill me. But it was nice of him to care.
He grabbed his own coat—a woolen one that looked just like the one I’d cut up a couple of days ago—and used it like a blanket to cover my legs.
I got a short kiss before he scooched over and put on his seatbelt.
Damn. Car rides sucked.
I hadn’t seen Eric for three whole days.
Which was, like, way too long.
I’d fucking missed him. Missed his calm presence. Missed his smiles. His kisses. Even the way his eyes flashed a creepy red for the blink of an eye as he looked at me with so much heat I was sure my cheeks were turning the same shade of red his eyes held.
We stayed silent as the driver pulled away from the curb, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. I listened to the rock music the driver was playing, bobbing my leg to the catchy rhythm.
Eric placed his hand on my leg and gave it a soft squeeze.
“Nervous?” he asked, raising his brows.
I stopped, turning my head to him.
I wasn’t nervous, per se, was I?
Maybe a little bit. Who wouldn’t be nervous about returning to the place where they’d been drugged? Not that I was saying it was the bartender’s fault, but…
“A bit,” I admitted, because I apparently was.
Funny how Eric had known that before it’d even registered with me.
“It’ll be fine, I promise. Bennie will be waiting for us and—” He stopped, his eyes turning wide as he gripped his chest.
“Eric?” I asked.
His body was rigid, frozen in place for a moment.
“It’s Bennie,” he said, letting out a long breath as he started rubbing his chest. “Something’s happened. I need to…”
