“Hope,” he responded. “Hope,” except something changed in his voice. It suddenly sounded far away, and I started to feel like I was being pulled physically from my body.
“Hope.”
I was being tugged from the depths of the dream back into reality—only I wasn’t alone.
“Hope, wake up.”
His voice broke through the last remains of my dreamy haze, and I opened my eyes. It took me a moment to realize a lamp light was on and someone was leaning over the couch where I’d fallen asleep.
A bewildered pair of blue eyes was staring down at me, and I gasped as the last tendrils of the dream officially evaporated.
“Jay,” I gasped, sitting up in a panic. I realized I was holding onto him, and quickly released him. His shirt wasall wrinkled where my hands had been, quite literally fisting it.
Jay was kneeling beside the couch, holding a glass of water and looking rather composed, considering I’d just been clinging to him in my sleep.
“I heard you calling my name,” he said, a tiny line of concern furrowing his brows. “I thought something was wrong.”
I wanted to crawl behind the couch and die. “I’m fine,” I blurted, running a hand through my tangled hair, unable to meet his eyes fully.
“Right.” He nodded, mercifully choosing to keep talking and not zero in on my embarrassment. “Sorry to wake you then, but I thought you might need another round.” He held out two more red pills and a glass of water.
“Thanks,” I muttered. I snatched the glass and the pills, then stood up quickly from the couch. I was desperate to put some space between us, so desperate, in fact, that I was shaking.
I was still trying to come down from the makeout dream I’d just had of him. It had felt entirely too real.
“Thanks for checking on me, but I’m good now,” I rambled. “I’ll probably just stay up until morning. Read or something.”
I fumbled around, looking for a book. Surely I had a floppy paperback just lying around here somewhere.
His mouth. My hands. The way I’d apparently said his name out loud.
Oh no.I wanted to vanish. Needed to gain the sudden ability to turn invisible.Please have secret superpowers,I begged.
“You sure?” Jay asked, still crouched beside the couch.
“Yep!” Finally, I stumbled upon one of my books lying haphazardly next to the toaster and grabbed it as if it were a lifeline. “I’ve got a book to read. This should—uh—keep me busy.”
His navy eyes flicked between me and the book. “Well, if you want company?—”
“No!” My voice pitched louder than intended. I cleared my throat so aggressively that I nearly choked. “I mean—no, thank you. I’m fine. Really.”
“It’s no trouble,” he said as he rose to his feet. “I’m up around this time anyway.” His large frame filled my apartment, making everything feel much smaller.
He took a step toward me, and I suddenly felt like a little rabbit in the woods being hunted by a wolf. My skin still tingled from dream-Jay. And if real-Jay got too close, I wasn’t sure I’d have the restraint not to throw myself at him.
Okay. I was definitely not thinking rationally.
I must have a brain injury from the fall, because did I just think about actually kissing him just now? Not in a dream?
“Jay,” I managed to blurt out. “I’m fine. You can go.”
He cocked his head, not budging from where he stood. “Were you dreaming about me?”
My heart dropped into my stomach. “Not in the way you’re thinking,” I scoffed.
Deny. Deny. Deny.
“No?” he asked, brows lifting as he left the safe zone of the living room and entered the tiny kitchen area where I was. It only took him three strides to close the distance. “You sure?”
