Page 56 of Buried Dreams

My phone beeps as soon as I get home with a message from him

Brock: Text me when you get home. I’m waiting for you before I go into the shower.

Me: I’m home, but why don’t you go back to sleep?

Brock: I’ve been rock hard since you lay down next to me. I need to go and jerk off.

I can’t help but laugh.

Me: Um, same.

I laugh as I get out of the car, the phone beeping in my hand.

Brock: You are going to jerk off in the shower?

I smirk as I walk up the two steps and then stop.

Me: No, I’m going to get naked in my bed and get my vibrator out.

I’m hoping that it drives him as crazy as it’s driving me. Opening the door quietly and stepping in, the phone buzzes as I kick off my flip-flops.

Brock: That isn’t helping.

I see the light on top of the stove is on, as always, as I walk over to the steps and slowly creep upstairs, my eyes on the hallway where my mother’s room is. I really do feel like I’m in high school again, and I’m sneaking in.

I tiptoe until I close the door behind me and then slip into bed. I don’t get naked like I told him I was going to. Instead, I turn on my side and fall asleep with the smell of him on me. When I wake up, I grab the phone and see that it’s a little past 10:00 a.m.

I blink the sleep out of my eyes, about to text Brock, when the phone rings in my hand, and I see it’s Autumn. “Hello,” I mumble, turning back to my side and closing my eyes.

“Ugh,” she groans, “please tell me that you did not just get up.”

I smile at her tone. “Okay, fine, I didn’t just get up.”

“I was up at four thirty when Mr. Man over here thought it was a good time to start the day.”

“I really hope the Mr. Man you are talking about is your son and not Charlie.” I turn on my back and look out the blinds, seeing the sun shining high in the sky.

She laughs. “Yes, Landon William. What are you doing today?”

I wish I was hanging with Brock and Saige, I almost say. “I am actually going to the bakery, and

I’m going to paint.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” she replies. “Want some company?”

“Are you sure you want to spend your Saturday painting?” I ask, and she laughs.

“That sounds like a perfect day. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

“Why don’t we head out to the diner for some lunch for you and some breakfast for me, and then we can start?”

“See you then,” she confirms, and I hear her yelling Charlie’s name as she hangs up.

Getting out of bed, I head to the bathroom and wash my face before I head downstairs to make myself coffee. The sound of emptiness lets me know my mother is not home. She’s no doubt out and about with Oliver. He’s been holding her at bay, telling her she can start working part-time in two weeks, but in the meantime, she’s been going to all these estate sales trying to find decorations to tie into the new place. So far she’s found a lamp that is now in our living room since she loves it so much.

I get dressed in a pair of old jeans and a tank top before heading out. Autumn is sitting at a table when I get there. We both order breakfast, and forty minutes later, we are spreading the plastic tarp to cover the floor before she starts on the baseboards. “I can’t believe how quickly this was done.”

“I know,” I answer her from across the room, the paint roller in my hand as I roll it up and down on the wall. “The whole town came through for Mom.”

---