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“Even though.”
“Oh. Okay. Glad that’s settled.”
∞∞∞
Iwoke the next morning to the feel of something twitching against my hip. Fingers, I realized, when I forced my heavy eyelids open. Dax’s fingers. Fast asleep, he’d positioned his arm at an angle. As it happened, I’d done the same—mine was crossed over his.
Like me, he didn’t hog the bed or move around much during sleep. Nor was he in any way a snuggle bug. As such, I never woke to find that either of us had wriggled toward each other during the night. Occasionally, we might have flung out our arms in a way that caused them to incidentally overlap this way, but that was pretty much it.
Pulling my arm into my body, I rolled onto my other side and rubbed a hand down my face. I then grabbed my phone and checked the time. 7:05am. My body clock never let me sleep too long, even on Sundays.
Needing a pee, I slid out of bed, gave Dax’s solid chest a quick ogle—well, it wasright there—and retreated into the ensuite bathroom. Once I’d done my business, I padded back into the bedroom, unsurprised to find Dax awake and scrolling through his phone. He was a light sleeper, so I unfortunately often woke him if I left the bed first.
His mismatched eyes flicked to me, slightly glazed from sleep. “Morning.”
“Back atcha.” I rubbed at the base of my spine. “I must have been sleeping in a weird position, because my back is aching.”
“You were curled up like a fetus at one point—I only know because you woke me up muttering in your sleep.”
I frowned. “Saying what?” I did occasionally talk in my sleep, but I allegedly usually made little sense.
He shrugged. “Something about crabs and lanterns—the words were muffled.”
Crabs and lanterns? Hell if I knew what that was about. I couldn’t remember any of my dreams from last night.
“You got plans for today?” he asked.
I blinked at the unexpected question. I doubted he particularly cared, but he was making an effort to show more interest. He wastrying.“I told my parents I’d stop by and see them. Mostly so that I can assure them I’m still not seeping in misery and regret.”
He reached back and slipped his hand beneath his pillow, elevating his head slightly. “Is it that they don’t expect our marriage to last, or that they don’t want it to?”
“The first, I think. They just worry about me. It’s what parents do.” I let my lips curve. “You can come with me if you want to spend your afternoon having my dad grunt, scowl, and glare at you.”
His shoulders rose and fell. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”
Surprise made me pause when I went to peel the bandage off my tattoo. “You’re serious?”Ihadn’t been.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, you’ve never accepted an invite from me before. And I personally wouldn’t want to deal with my dad if I were you.”
“I don’t blame him for the way he’s acting. My own father still has plenty of reservations. He doesn’t voice them anymore, but it’s obvious that they’re there.”
Yeah, I’d sensed that on the occasions he visited. He wasn’t rude to me, though. The same couldn’t be said for my dad when it came to Dax. “Well, you’re more than welcome to come if you’re really prepared to put yourself through it.”
Switching my attention to my wrist, I peeled off the bandage, unable to help smiling at the sight of the dragonfly. The skin around it was a little raw, but that was normal. “What do you think?” I asked Dax, angling my arm so he could get a good look at the tattoo.
He hummed. “Caelan does good work.”
“I told him he’s my favorite brother-in-law.”
“You said the same to Drey when he gave you free tickets to his upcoming game.”
I sniffed. “I don’t recall that.”
Dax only gave me a dubious look. “What time are we leaving to go see your parents?”
“About onepm. I’ll be in my office until then.” I had a book to read that had only recently been released.
