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I nod. “We’ll stop by again tomorrow to check on you, Mom. Get some rest if you can.”
When we pull into a spot next to the bunkhouse, Warren checks his phone and wrinkles his brow.
“I need to check on this water tank. The sensor says it’s not running. Might be a while if it needs fixing. You good?”
“I’m fine. Do you need help?” I ask.
“Nah. Go up and go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I give him a quick smile and shut the door behind me.
The bunkhouse is completely dark with the exception of the light above the stove. I drag my feet to the stairs leading up to the loft and go up to get ready for bed. If there’s one thing I will never do, no matter how tired I am, it’s go to sleep with makeup on. If my face isn’t clean before I hit the sheets, I know I’ll regret it the next day.
“Hey,” Kee says in a soft voice. She sits up slowly in her bed and rubs her eyes.
“Hey,” I answer back as I sit down next to her.
“Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. I think I’d like to just get ready for bed and talk about it tomorrow,” I sigh.
Maybe it’s a terrible personality trait to push down my emotions, but when things weigh heavy on my mind, I like to keep them to myself for a while. Sit with my feelings. Make a plan. Kee knows that about me, though. I’m sure she’ll have a million questions for me when I’m ready to talk about it in the morning.
“Alright,” she says as she yawns and lays her head back down on the pillow. “Are you sure?”
“Promise. Go back to sleep.”
I move to rummage around in my bag for my favorite crew neck and my skincare bag. Then, I multitask using a makeup wipe to take off my mascara and shuck off my clothes at the same time. I’m about to change, wash my face, and moisturize when I stop in my tracks.
It’s then I realize my face wash is in Gage’s shower.
Chapter 18
Gage
Counting sheep doesn’t fucking work.
I’m desperate to turn off my brain that won’t shut up, so I snatch my phone from the side table and Google ways to fall asleep. The first result says to get comfortable.
No shit.
I roll my eyes.
I scroll down and see a breathing exercise where you inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and repeat.
It doesn’t help in the slightest. I scroll down further, hoping to find some revolutionary way to fall asleep without using a tranquilizer when I hear the patter of footsteps down the hallway.
I sit up and look toward my door. In the crack between the door and floor, a shadow passes. A second later, it passes back the other way. There’s no way it’s one of the guys. They’re all too loud. These steps are delicate and quiet. I move the covers and walk towards the door.
When the shadow underneath passes a third time, I decide to open and see for myself instead of waiting. Blythe whips around to face me when I creak the door open.
“Oh!” She puts her palm on her heart and takes a step back like I startled her.
“Need something?” I ask.
“Yes,” she answers way too fast. “I wasn’t sure if you were awake or not.” She stares with wide eyes as she scans below my neckline.
Maybe I forgot to put a shirt on before I opened the door. Maybe I stayed shirtless on purpose, secretly hoping it’d be her on the other side.
