Page 14 of Lakesides and Longing

The screams persisted as he rushed down the hall in bare feet and nothing but boxers, practically tripping on a rug on his way.

The door to her room was closed, and he shoved it open and flicked on the light.

Paige shot up in bed, her hair a wild mess. She continued to scream, her face screwed up and eyes closed shut. She clutched at the sheets on her bed in her paint-splattered tank top.

She must be having a nightmare.

Blake approached her cautiously, his adrenaline slowing now that there was no actual danger. After his parents had died when he was a child, he’d had nightmares too, and he knew what she was going through.

He sat on the bed and placed a hand over hers, wondering how often this had happened. She didn’t respond. He crawled closer to her, put both of his hands on her shoulders, and shook her slightly. Not hard, but enough to try to get her attention.

“Paige, wake up,” he shouted so she’d hear him through her screams.

She blinked her eyes open and closed her mouth. She just stared at him.

“You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?”

She looked over his shoulder and then collapsed into his arms, sobbing. Blake wasn’t used to dealing with emotional women. Debbie had been the exact opposite, and he never got close to any of the other women he’d dated. He had no sisters and his mom had been stoic.

He slid up to the headboard, so he’d have something to lean against and pulled her with him. They were practically strangers, but he wouldn’t let her cry alone.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there with her in his lap, sobbing all over his bare shoulder.

After a bit she sat up and sniffed.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.”

Then her apple-green eyes widened. “Blake. Oh my word, I’m so sorry. I was half-asleep. Geesh.”

She scrambled off his lap, and he chuckled at the flush in her cheeks. “I totally understand.” He’d say anything in this moment so she wouldn’t feel any more uncomfortable. Whatever was going on in her head wasn’t her fault.

She stood off the side of the bed, her hands trembling. “Can you give me a moment?”

“Sure.”

She raced away into what he assumed was the bathroom. Tria jumped onto the bed and curled up next to him. He flung a sheet over his legs so she wouldn’t be too embarrassed by the sight of him in just his boxers. At least he’d stopped to put those on. He thought about going back to his room, but he wanted to get down to the bottom of why she woke up screaming.

Different colored crystals dotted the shelves, and on her bedside table sat a deck of tarot cards. She probably checked those every day and followed them religiously.

She came out of the bathroom, her face scrubbed pink, but she was still shaking.

He couldn’t help but think that even a mess, she looked stunning. He glanced down at the tarot cards. Nuts. But stunning.

He was so in for it this summer.

CHAPTER10

Oh great. Not only did Paige wake up her house guest in the middle of the night, but then she discovered herself in his nearly naked lap, sobbing over his beautiful chest.

She was used to her brother and his friends running around with their shirts off, but she’d never actually touched a man who looked like Blake before. Emery was soft even after he installed the gym in the basement. He wanted to look buff, but he never quite pulled it off, and she’d been with Emery since her sophomore year in college. There had never really been anyone before that.

She didn’t count the time when she was fifteen and played seven minutes in heaven and ended up in the closet with Hayden. Because that was just a sloppy kiss.

She wasn’t usually attracted to men like Blake, but there was something about feeling the rippling of his abs under her hands that made her blush.

Now she couldn’t stop looking at them. At least he’d had the decency to cover his legs. But she wasn’t sure why he was still in her bed. She sat across from him and pulled a pillow into her lap.

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