Another sigh as he peeks over at me. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“Because I’m my most curious in the mornings.” I give him a sarcastic smile.
He’s right; Iamasking a lot of questions, and I’m not sure why. I’m feeling unusually chatty—but maybe I’m always this chatty and I just don’t know it because there’s never anyone else here.
I should stop while I’m ahead. I don’t want to get comfortable having someone here to talk to. More than that, I don’t want Dean getting toocomfortable here.
He finally answers me. “I never truly fell into a deep sleep.”
“I didn’t keep you up, did I?”
Thick brows go up, a teasing smirk on his lips. “Do you mean the first, second, or third time you came into the office?”
I flew in at eleven PM, just fifteen minutes after Dean had retired for the night, and flipped the light right on.
I didn’t even think about him being in there. It was completely out of habit.
He jumped off his air mattress wearing only a pair of gray boxer briefs that leftnothingto the imagination.
I averted my eyes as quickly as I could, but not before getting a look at what he had to offer.
There was a moment when I questioned why I hated him again.
Then, he spoke.
“Fucking hell. I thought you were a gremlin. Then I got a good look at you.”
“And?”
“Gremlins are cuter.”
I flipped him off, grabbed the notebook I was after, and left without turning the light off.
I could hear him cursing as I scurried back to my room.
The other times I went in there weren’t even out of spite. I genuinely needed things. It was just a bonus that it interrupted his sleep.
But seeing him this morning… Guilt sits heavy in my stomach, especially since I can relate to how unrested he’s feeling.
I’ve suffered from insomnia for several years now. If I’m being honest, I can pinpoint it back to when I started my business. It’s the daily stress of knowing this could all crumble at any second, knowing there are two other employees banking on my business working.
These thoughtsliterallykeep me up at night.
Silly with the shop doing as well as it is, but also valid because, hey, it’s doing well. In my experience, that means it’s all going to come crashing down at any moment.
It was at Maya’s insistence that I finally saw my doctor about it last year. Though I’m not generally one for taking medication, I knew if I wanted to be successful, I needed to sleep more than threeinterruptedhours a night.
I hate taking it, hate being dependent on it—or on anything, for that matter. So, I do everything else I can to avoid it. Yoga, meditation, cutting back on screen time, anything other than giving up my work that helps reduce stress.
For the most part, it works. I’m not taking my medication nearly as often now.
Dean is still staring at me expectantly, so I just shrug. “I’m not used to having someone in there, and I needed to check on a few things.”
He lifts that damn brow again, not buying it, even though it’s true.
I did struggle last night knowing he was in the other room, but only because I’m honestly not used to having someone else in my apartment.
It has nothing to do with the fact that the someone is Dean.