Page 54 of Phoenix

“Still sleeping. She was exhausted last night.”

“I’m sure. We may have heard a thing or two on our way in last night.” I smirk.

“Take notes?”

“Why would I take notes when I’m the master? Besides, she sounded like she was faking it. I prefer real orgasms from my women,” I joke.

He flips me the bird and plops down onto the sofa.

“What did you and Nora get into last night?”

Memories of the night flow back and I have to smile.

“We just had dinner and talked. That’s all.”

“So you’re still being denied, huh? Firmly placed in the friend zone?”

I crack open a bottle of water to hide my smirk. “Yeah. Friend zone for me. Maybe she’s into girls.”

“Who’s into girls?”

I turn around and see Nora has opened the bathroom door and is standing there in a blue sundress with wild, wet hair.

Grayson chimes in before I can, “Case was just telling me how you’re wise to his bullshit and are keeping him at arm’s length. He said it’s probably because you’re into girls.”

She waltzes out with a certain sway of her ass that I have to actively ignore.

“You know, there was one time in college that was incredibly hot. I should try that again. Might answer some lingering questions I have.”

She’s teasing me.

“I need to hear about this time in college,” I say.

She faces me, her back completely to Grayson. “In your dreams, buddy.” She smiles and gives me a wink then turns back around. “You boys have the football game tonight, right?”

“We do. We’ll be taking off right before dinner,” Grayson says.

“I’m sure Amelia and I can get into something fun. Speaking of, I’m going down to see her. I want to see how her meeting went.”

Grayson speaks up, “Here, you can take my room key, and spoiler alert, the meeting went perfectly.”

She takes the card from him. “I can’t wait to hear all about it. Bye, boys.”

She disappears out the door and I lean against the wall. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

“Ready to talk?” Grayson asks.

I stalk over to the couch and sit, scrubbing my hand over my face. “I had another nightmare.”

He understands immediately. “The same one?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t breathe. The pool cover was above me. It was so dark. I woke up screaming and thrashing. Nora saw.”

“Did she say anything or just roll over and go back to sleep?”

“Do you know who you’re talking about? Of course she said something. She wanted to make sure I was okay. She told me I couldn’t ignore a nightmare like that. Thank God you knocked when you did.”

“Why are you so worried about her knowing?” he asks.

“Who wants to admit they are scared of fucking water, Grayson? I don’t like talking about it. Don’t like being grilled about it.”

“Nora’s a decent sounding board. She helped both Mills and me through the Jaxon shit, and you two are clearly getting close so...”

“I just want to go to the game today and forget it happened. Can we do that?”

“Fine, but you know I’m right.”

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