Page 63 of Teach Me to Fly

He clears his throat when I don’t answer. “I’ll be fine,” he says, pushing himself off the wall and walking over to the couch to set up a spot for himself. “Get some sleep.”

I nod. “Goodnight, Reign.”

Chapter 22

Angelique

“Reign!”

I blink awake and find myself standing in Reign’s bedroom, a flashlight shining at my face. I squint at the brightness and use my hands to block the light as I hear the rush of footsteps behind me, and a second later the bedroom light clicks on.

Terry is sitting in Reign’s bed, shirtless, holding his phone up with the flashlight feature on and staring at me with his mouth ajar.

“Mate,” he breathes, looking over my shoulder at Reign. “I swear she just walked in here on her own, all possessed looking.”

Fuck.

“Terry, I’m so sorry,” I say quickly, taking a step back and bumping straight into Reign's chest.

“She sleepwalks,” Reign says, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Close the door, Terry.”

He quietly steers me back to my room and gently helps me back into bed.

“That was extremely embarrassing,” I mutter into myhands. “He’s probably so freaked out.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Reign reassures me, tucking a loose curl behind my ear. “He was more worried I’d beat the shit out of him if I found you two together.”

“Funny,” I say dryly, lowering my hands to my lap and looking at him now.

“I’m not joking.”

I tug the blanket higher, curling my fingers into it when I realize he means it. My heart skips, then pounds, a confused flutter of heat. I should feel uneasy, but I don’t. I feel… protected. Wanted, in a way that makes my chest ache. But instead of acknowledging it, I deflect.

“I don’t get why I’ve been sleepwalking.”

“The last time you did, it was after you drank all that wine at the restaurant,” he says. “And tonight, you had a few drinks, too.”

“You think the alcohol is triggering it?”

“It’s possible that it’soneof your triggers,” he says, standing up. “But don’t think of that for now. Try to get some more sleep.”

I nod and give him a grateful smile as he walks out of my room, turning off the light and closing the door behind him. He’s right though, the times that I’ve sleepwalked were nights that I drank to the point of being drunk. I think back to the morning after Lando’s party when I woke up on the couch with no memory of falling asleep there. I had drunk champagne that night too. If alcohol is the reason, then I need to cut it out completely. I can’t keep doing this.

My phone alarmvibrates on my nightstand, dragging me out of my sleep. I look at the time and see it’s ten past six inthe morning, which means it’s time to get ready for what I hope is a good day at Imperium. But seeing as it’s a day I’ll be spending rehearsing under Volkov’s eye, I can’t imagine it’ll be much better than last time.

I grab my clothes from the dresser and open my bedroom door so that I can get to the bathroom for a quick shower, but my soul almost leaves the earth when a body tumbles into my room as the door swings open. Reign hits my floor with a thud and his brows furrow in pain before he opens his eyes and looks up at me.

“Oh my god,” I breathe, staring down at him. “Are you okay?”

He lets out a heavy sigh as he sits up, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, just fine.”

“Were you sleeping against my door?”

He nods. “Just wanted to make sure I could steer you back to bed in case you tried to sleepwalk again.”

“Oh,” I whisper.

My heart thuds fast in my chest as I take in what he just said. Reign gave up the comfort of the couch to sit guard outside my room door and stop me in case I tried to sleepwalk again.

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