Page 79 of Look My Way
“I’d hate for you to nap alone, so I suppose I could go with you.”
“Yeah. We can get some rest and wake up even stronger together.” He rubs my knee, his nose grazing my cheek.
“Okay.”
Getting up from his chair first, he offers me his hand, and I take it. We excuse ourselves after I tell my family I’ll be back down later. They’re all immediately understanding and don’t question me. Zavier holds on to me when I get lightheaded walking too fast up the stairs.
“Almost there,” he says, giving me a light shove forward. “I’m just going to hold on to you so I don’t fall.”
I smile, eyes heavy. “Yeah, okay.” My mouth stretches in a yawn and we both enter the guest room one at a time. Zavier closes and locks the door, climbing into the bed after me. His arms fall around me, legs holding me in place as I bury my face in his chest. It doesn’t take me long to doze off, following the easy rhythm of his breathing as darkness takes me.
I wake up to the bed beside me empty. Sitting up, I blink my eyes and glance around the room. “Zavier?”
There’s no answer. Back pressed to the headboard, I stretch myself against it and go still when the door pushes open slowly. I peek around it and there’s nothing but an empty hallway staring back at me. Sighing in relief, I rub at my legs, and my eyes fly back up when there’s a creaking sound. I see more of the hallway now with the door fully ajar, and my skin feels like ants are crawling all over it. “Hello?”
No one says anything back, but a door opens before shutting, and I scoot closer to the bed post, stretching my neck. My heart feels like its choking me when the same eyes from yesterday are looking in at me. A man blending with the dark space is leaning against the rail, then moves closer before stopping.
“Zavier?”
He doesn’t move, so still it’s causing ragged breaths to pull from my chest. He inches closer, stopping again, and his head tilts. I close my eyes and count to five, opening them again, but he doesn’t go away, he’s even closer than before. He can’t be real. If it’s not Zavier, it’s not really here. Breathing heavier, I shut my eyes tight again and count to ten. He’s inside the door when I blink them open, head tilting to the other side.
I pinch my skin and hit my hand against my head. “Who are you?” I scream, kicking my feet as he gains another inch into the room. I squeeze my eyes together, counting to twenty while wishing him away, and when I open them, I jump at Zavier reaching for me.
His forehead divots, causing a deep crease between his eyes. “Carino, what is it? Did you have a nightmare?”
“Where did you go?” My voice is full of panic.
He crawls closer, his expression full of worry. “I went downstairs to see if they needed help cleaning up. I saved you some cake and wanted to bring it up, but then I heard you screaming.”
“I thought . . . I thought I saw something.”
“What?” He blinks rapidly, glancing behind him.
“A guy dressed . . . He was wearing all black and a ski mask. He—” I cover my face with my hands. “I’m losing it.”
“Hey.” The bed dips and his hip connects with mine. “None of that. Were you asleep?”
“I must’ve been. You didn’t see anyone out there, did you?”
His eyes shift to the hallway again and he shakes his head, his face not looking convinced. “No, but I can check.”
“No.” A nervous laugh falls from my lips. “It’s fine. No need to do that. It was a bad dream is all.”
“You sure?”
“You act as if it’s normal for people to just see someone watching them sleep inside their family’s home.”
His eyes shift from side to side. “Normal no, but impossible? Also no. Let me go check it out, okay?”
“No.” I grab at his hand, my muscles clamping up. “Don’t go.”
He breathes out deeply, nodding into my neck. “Okay, sweetheart. I won’t. I’ll stay here.”
I hold on to him tightly, breathing in his scent and keeping him here with me for as long as I can. Because if he’s in the room with me, t no one else can be. Eyelids slowly peeling back, I look down the long hallway and sink more against him when it’s still only us. Only us is what I need right now.
It isn’t until a few hours later that we finally go downstairs to join my sister and her family for ice cream and a movie.
Zavier stays next to me the whole time, curling up with me on the couch, and when he laughs at a funny scene, I do too. I don’tsee any man in all black and a mask for the rest of the night, and Zavier helps my mind escape from any previous nightmares I may have had by showing me exactly how good he is with both his hands and his mouth.
