“Get out of my head!” I roar at my reflection of the glass panes of the shower. Then my knuckles connect with the wall, hard enough to crack one of the milky white stones—and probably a knuckle too.
My shower’s run cold, and I wash myself quickly before stumbling into my room. I don’t even make it to the bed before I collapse and the world goes black.
“Christian, please wake up,” I hear Elena say. There’s something…worrisome in her voice. “Please, Christian. Wake up.”
I crash back into reality, and I sit up with a sharp inhale. I nearly crack my skull against hers.
Her mouth is open and unshed tears are in her eyes. That’s when I realize we’re on the floor, and I’m stark fucking naked. I blink once, twice, three times, and I focus on her face.
“Why are you crying?” I ask, and her mouth gapes open.
“Are you serious right now?” She sounds halfway furious and halfway scared. She shakes my head in her hands. “I thought you were dead. You weren’t waking up and you weren’t moving.”
“I was just asleep, angel.”
“Asleep?” She scoffs. “Christian Thomas Reeves, I want to strangle you right now for scaring me like that.”
I sleepily blink at her and grin. “I like it when you’re violent.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, ignoring the teasing quip in my tone.
I nod. “I’m just tired, Elena.”
I take in her attire. She’s fully dressed in jeans and a nice sweater. I raise an eyebrow. “Are you going somewhere?”
She looks at me with confusion. “Are you losing your memory too? We’re going to Texas.”
“Our flight isn’t until Thursday.”
“ItisThursday. Our flight leaves in an hour.”
I rub my eyes and look up at her again. I blink rapidly to try and orient myself. “Right. Sorry. Let me get dressed.”
She sits on the bench at the foot of my bed as I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth and try to save my hair with some water and hair gel. The stubble on my cheeks and chin will have to stay.
When her family was here at the estate, I looked homeless. I would wear old hoodies, sweatpants, and mud-covered shoes. I still have massive purple circles under my eyes from worrying about Elena.
I want to make a better impression this time, so when I go to my closet, I opt to dress with some finesse.
Black trousers, black belt, navy blue dress shirt, and a nice pair of shiny black shoes. I unceremoniously throw a few days’ worth of clothes into a suitcase and grab a tie from my large selection. It’s black silk with small gray polka dots. As I’m fidgeting with it in the floor length mirror, I can see Elena staring at me from the reflection. She eyes me suspiciously as she walks closer.
“Got a hot date or something?”
“Or something,” I purr, smoothing the crisp tie over my chest.
“Why are you dressed so fancy?”
I shrug and then wrap my father’s watch around my wrist. “I wanted to make a better impression than I did the last time I saw your parents.”
She giggles and steps in front of me, tugging slightly on my tie. “A little formal, don’t you think?”
“You tell me. This is my first Thanksgiving since I was a kid.”
She smiles, loosening the knot of the tie at my neck and tossing it to the side. Then, she unfastens the top two buttons of my shirt. She rubs over the planes of my chest to smooth out my shirt and then runs her fingers through my gelled hair to ruffle it a bit. She crosses her arms and looks me up and down, nodding with satisfaction. “Better.”
We find Edwin in his room to say a quick goodbye. Elena insisted it would be fine if he came with us, but then it would be a whole thing with the nurses and it’s too much to logistically work out at the last minute. Besides, we’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving.
I don’t know if Edwin even remembers what Thanksgiving is.
