AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d meant what I’d said this morning. She really isn’t anything like I’d have expected, even if I’d initially expected Lorenzo’s son.
She’s soft, and strong in the way only a woman can be. Her smile is infectious, her laughter painfully addictive, and my gut twists as a feeling I’m unfamiliar with barrels through me.
Get a grip, Burton.
I expel a heavy breath before tucking the cover over her more firmly. Then I pluck the hoodie from the couch and walk toward the laundry room, intent on putting it in the wash basket. Except, as I walk, I hold the hoodie in my clenched fist, allowing the scent of citrus and sunlight to tease my nostrils.
Before I know what I’m doing, I adjust my course, veering toward my waiting bed instead, not bothering with the lights.
I barely manage to shuck off my clothes and shoes before throwing back the covers to climb underneath, shoving the hoodie beneath my head as a pillow of sorts.
That citrus scent tickles my nostrils, and I inhale deeply, a content sigh rumbling from deep down in my chest.
The silky-satin sheets are cool beneath my skin, and I burrow down farther against them, intent on allowing her lingering scent to lull me off to dreams that are sweeter than I deserve.
Except sleep doesn’t come. And I can’t quite place the reason why. My usually comfortable bed is anything but. I flip onto my side, then onto my other side, but to no avail. The more I move, the more uncomfortable I become until I eventually can’t take it anymore.
“Fuck this!”
I flip on the light, and something on the bed immediately catches my eye.
Alotof somethings on the bed. The closer I look, the more quickly I realize my house guest took me at my word.
The truce is well and truly over.
The reason for my irritation glints like a sky full of stars on a clear, dark night. Tiny granules of white sugar litter my black bedsheets and my torso, too, when I straighten to dust myself off.
I don’t know whether to be annoyed at how her revenge is impacting my sleep or pleased that I’ve been able to distract her following the events of the day.
Either way, sleep is calling. And I know precisely where I’m going to lay my head.
A smirk lifts one side of my mouth as I re-dress my bed as though it’s not been touched. I grab the sunshine-scented hoodie before I exit my bedroom, peeling off my Calvins as I go.
Time for revenge.
* * *
WREN
“Ouch!”
My neck screams with stiffness when I unfurl myself from the couch where I’d fallen asleep last night, waiting for my prickly Cactus of a housemate to come upstairs.
I wonder if he came back at all.
The thought makes my shoulders sag ever so slightly. His support yesterday had buoyed my spirits immensely, and as I’d layered sugar between his sheets, I’d been excited to witness his reaction.
Sitting up farther, I swing my legs over the side of the couch, reaching to cover my pajama shorts and top with the hoodie I could haveswornI’d left close to hand last night.
I tip-toe lightly down the hallway, swearing softly under my breath when I notice his bedroom door is cracked slightly ajar, the exact same way I’d left it after my tinkering yesterday evening.
My stomach swoops uncomfortably low, thinking of where he’d been if not in his own bed.
Ofwhohe’s sleeping with.
It’s none of your business where he sleeps. Or who it’s with, for that matter.
Anxiety flows through me, despite my inner thoughts as I twist about and turn the handle on my door, intent on scrubbing the last remaining blue food coloring from my skin with a sea salt and lemon remedy I’d found online last night.
