Page 29 of My Dream

“Felt right,” he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the other side of the bed. I carefully laid down as far from him as I could manage. The mattress dipped as Compass shifted, and his hand reached out to tug me closer.

“Babe, you’re gonna fall off the damn bed. Get over here.”

Before I could protest, he pulled me toward the center of the bed, and his arm slid under my head. The scent of him surrounded me, and I let myself relax against him.

“Are there cameras in here?” I asked softly.

“No cameras,” he assured me, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my arm. “Just us.”

I hesitated and wondered why he was continuing to put on a show when there was no one here to see it. “Um, okay.”

“Just enjoy it,” he said, his voice tinged with exhaustion. “Call it practice if you want.”

“Taking a nap together is practice?” I asked, tilting my head to look at him. His eyes were already closed, and his breathing was evening out.

He hummed under his breath.

I rolled closer and snuggled into his warmth. “If it’s just practice, I’m going to be comfortable.”

He chuckled softly, and his arm tightened around me for a moment before relaxing again. “You did well today, Fallon. Thank you.”

I didn’t know how to respond. All I had done was spend time with Adalee talking about The Cakery coming to life, andnow I got to snuggle with Compass as a reward. His breathing deepened, and I knew he was asleep.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

Chapter Eleven

Compass

Throttle scanned the room. “Where’s the camera crew?” he asked. His voice was low, like he was planning something.

I tipped my head toward the door. “Outside with Yarder and Fade getting footage of the garage.”

He exhaled sharply and wiped his brow. “Thank fuck.”

I smirked. “We’ve still got the cameras in here, though. Don’t forget.”

Adalee had made sure we knew that even though these cameras weren’t as fancy as the one with the guy attached to it, they were always rolling. No soundproof moments here.

Throttle groaned and lowered his voice. “Dove’s pissed off at me, and I didn’t want to be anywhere near her right now.” He slid behind the bar, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and poured himself a double. It disappeared in one quick shot before he poured another.

“Trouble in paradise?” I asked and leaned back in my seat.

He brought his drink over to the other side of the bar and plopped down next to me. “It’s not like that. I was just asking about her dad, trying to piece things together, you know? And she blew up at me. I know she’s got a lot of anger toward the guy—hell, I get it. But I need to know this stuff. Family vacations, the things they did. It’s all part of the picture.” He swirled the whiskey in his glass and watched the amber liquid like it held the answers he couldn’t get from Dove.

I nodded but didn’t say much. That conversation was coming for me, too. Fallon wasn’t exactly an open book when it came to her past, and I needed to know everything she had to tell me about Russ. Last night, after our nap together, she had beenglued to Adalee’s side through dinner and barely acknowledged me. I wasn’t sure if it was distance or strategy.

“I’m just going to hang out here for a bit.”

When Yarder came in earlier, he’d mentioned Clay wanted to do interviews that afternoon. “If I were you,” I said to Throttle, “I’d find a way to disappear this afternoon. Yarder said interviews are happening.”

Throttle downed his whiskey in one gulp. “Brother, being out here is my safest option right now. Pretty sure Dove was five seconds away from punching me in the nuts.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know. Dove sounds like a better option to me.”

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