Page 116 of Wild Blades

Not again.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?” My breathing is labored. I close my eyes and then open them again.

“You were shouting. Were you having a bad dream?” Her voice is thick with concern.

“Yeah.” I drag my hands down my face. I hate those dreams.

“Do you get them often?” Kali rests her head on my chest.

“Every week.” Sometimes more than once. I draw fresh air into my lungs. “I’m fine.”

“Do you want to tell me about them?”

I hesitate for a moment, because I don’t know what any of it means. Then I give in and share my dream with her, leaving nothing out.

“Do you think it’s a memory, maybe?” Kali pushes one of her fists into her sleepy looking eyes before I see the sympathy heavy in them for me.

“I do. That woman who is crying looks just like my mom, but I don’t know who that man is or the baby.”

“And the guy with blue eyes? Do you think maybe that’s your dad? The same guy who visited the house?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“You should speak to your mom,” she recommends.

“I’d rather stick forks in my eyes.” I make her laugh, then she covers her mouth to hide a morning yawn.

I lift my hand to her cheek and smile down at where she’s rested on my chest. “Did you sleep okay?”

“I did.”

Not wanting to disturb her, she slept straight through dinner, which let me do what I needed to in the house. I now have three boxes of mementos to take with me to my new home.

I grab my phone to check the time. Seven o’clock. “I have a game at two.” Meaning we need to leave straight after breakfast. “How’s your neck feeling today?”

Lifting her chin for me to check, it looks even worse than yesterday; deep purple fingerprint bruises that are red around the edges. “I hate that he did this to you.”

Her weight settles back on my chest. “When I spoke to Marcus yesterday via text, he said Zane would make a face-to-face apology.”

“Pointless. The man is devoid of emotions.”

“I thought the same. Will the team know the real reason he’s been removed?”

“Maybe.” News travels fast and nothing is one hundred percent secret. “Marcus is a fiercely private man so, maybe not. It’s Zane who has a big mouth.” That’s how we all knew about the girl he got pregnant. He was almost bragging about it.

What an asshole.

She taps the end of my nose. “Forget about him. Let’s talk about the things I could do withmymouth.”

“We are not doing that. Not until you are healed.” I’m horny, but I’m not a behemoth.

“Always the gentleman.”

When I need to be.“I’m going to make breakfast for you, then we’re going to sit out on the deck and watch the boats sailing by, get showered and head to the arena.”

“I might need a pair of socks if we are going to sit outside.”

“Help yourself.” I lift my jaw to point at the chest of drawers on the far side of the room.

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