Page 4 of Before I Lost You

We finally pull up to his high-rise and get out of the car, going straight for the elevator. My foot taps an impatient rhythm as we wait for the door to open, and once we reach his floor, I practically sprint to his door. It’s at the very end of the hallway, and if I thought I looked crazy before, it definitely has nothing on now. I have officially lost all my fucking marbles.

Emerson finally reaches me after a minute, and I know because I’ve literally stared at my watch the entire time. He raises an eyebrow at me and takes out his key, putting it in the lock and turning it. The door is pushed open a second later, and he goes in and turns on the light. Once inside, he turns around and stares at me with his arms crossed over his chest as I close the door behind me. I gulp, looking down at my feet and then back up at him.

“Spill,” he says, tipping his chin toward the couch. “Now.”

I follow him to the living room, sitting on the sofa and kicking off my shoes, then folding my legs under me. If I’m going to pour my heart out, I’m going to do it while I’m comfortable. I have a feeling we’re going to be here a while. He sits on the armchair across from me, watching me intently.

“Something happened,” I say softly, barely audible. “And I’m going to sound fucking insane. But I swear it’s real, and it freaked me out.”

“That’s why you ran out?”

“I didn’t run—”

“Oh, you did.” I look at Emerson now, whose brows are raised all the way up to his hairline. “Tell me what made you freak out.”

“I—” I stutter, then close my eyes and breathe in deeply. I can’t look at him while I say this, so instead, I focus on my hands once I open my eyes. “I’ve been dreaming of someone.”

“Okay…” he trails off. “What kind of dreams?”

“Weird dreams.” I sigh. “We’re a couple, him and I, and we’re living life and having sex and—”

“So you’re having wet dreams?” Emerson snickers.

I look up at him with narrowed eyes. “Em, be fucking serious for once.”

“Oh, got it.” He mimes zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

“I’m not having wet dreams,” I affirm. “I’m—I can’t even have sex with anyone else without comparing them to him. A fucking man who I thought didn’t exist. That’s why I haven’t had sex in weeks. But I think… I think he actually is real.” My voice trails off into a whisper. “I don’t know. But I think I saw him tonight.”

Emerson frowns now, tilting his head to the side. “So you’ve been dreaming of someone for a while now—someone you’ve never seen or met before—and now you saw him tonight? Am I getting this right?”

I nod slowly. “Yes…”

“What makes you think it was the same person?”

“He—in my dreams—has an infinity tattoo on his hand, between his thumb and forefinger. And tonight, there was a guy with the same tattoo, in the same exact spot. I can’t explain it. I—”

“Did they look the same?”

“I don’t know. The guy in my dreams—his face is never visible.” I sigh. “I can’t know for sure. But you can’t tell me it’s not weird. That they have the same tattoo in the exact same spot on their hand. And it looks the same. Their hands…”

“Their hands what?”

I look into his eyes. “I think it’s him, Em. Even their hands are the same.”

He nods slowly. “Okay.” I run a hand down my face and look away. “So what are you gonna do about it?”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“You said you think they’re the same person.” My breath comes a little quicker as I feel his stare burn my skin. “And that in your dreams you’re a couple. So are you going to go after him and make your dreams come true? Or are you going to wonder for the rest of your life if he’s your person?”

Well, when he puts it that way…

“I don’t know what to do,” I admit. “He’ll probably think I’m a crazy person now if I approach him after running out.”

“Sometimes crazy is good.” Em smirks. “He’ll be intrigued by you.”

“Em—”