Page 13 of Dark Wishes

Staring at myself in the foggy mirror, I brush out my freshly toned and moisturized hair.There, no longer a field of parched hay.I’ve colored my hair multiple times—it comes with the territory if you like Cosplay—but it’s in good health. Valoria taught me how to keep from destroying it.

You always knew the coolest things,I think wistfully. Eyeing my reflection, I wonder what she’d say if she saw me now. ‘In your PJs at a strange man’s house?’Then she’d gasp dramatically and add, ‘Scandalous. When can I come to the wedding?’

Blushing at my imaginative banter, I place my hairbrush on the edge of the white porcelain sink. I’m wearing the Anime convention tee she bought me; it hangs to just above my knees, hiding the blue basketball shorts underneath.Don’t worry, Valoria. I’m not going to do anything dumb.

The shower makes a sharpsqueakthat startles me. Whirling, I grip the front of my shirt, my heart thudding through the fabric.Just the pipes. You need to relax,I warn myself. I’ve been on edge since that mugger assaulted me. It was a quick encounter... but it left me deeply uneasy.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I wander down the hall and into the main bedroom Jamison pointed out to me when we returned. He’d said it was where I’d be sleeping. I’d abandoned my backpack with my phone on the large bed. It’s all I expect tofind, so when I realize Jamison is standing by the single window, I stop short. “Oh!”

He squints at me suspiciously. “You’re very pale. If anything, the shower should have made you glow like a tomato.”

I cross my arms with a light frown. “That’s a weird way to ask what’s wrong.”

“Alright. What’s wrong?”

Shivering, I clutch my over-sized tee shirt closer. “I can’t stop thinking about that guy who tried to rob us.”

“It bothered you,” he notes calmly.

“Of course it did.” I shake my head, getting ready for what he might say and beating him to the punch. “I saw scarier stuff yesterday. This shouldn’t upset me, I get that, but it does. With Sanford, I was in control. I had a gun, he had nothing. It's different having someone threatenmylife.”

“I’ve threatened you,” he says flatly.

My jaw clenches. “That’s different. I know you.”

He remains silent in the corner of the room.

I rub my upper arms, suddenly self-conscious about what I’ve admitted. The gravity in the air is pushing me into the floor the longer this goes on. “I meant, I know what to expect from you. Kind of. I guess I’m saying, I keep picturing him jumping at me from the darkness. Now I’m panicking at every little noise in your house.”

“You don’t need to worry about anyone breaking in.” Jamison moves towards me, lifting a pillow off the bed, holding it like a sign. “I’ll sleep beside you.”

My jaw pops open. “You’ll what?”

His fingers crush the pillow, then drop it to my feet. “I’ll be on the floor next to the bed. No one will be able to harm you with me at arm's length.”

Air rushes out of me in the form of a nervous laugh. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” he says seriously.

“But you said you can’t sleep on a floor another night in a row. I don’t want to make you do this, Jamison.”

“You’re not making me do anything.”

“In a way, I am,” I mumble. Fluffing my freshly washed hair, I stare at the pillow on the dove-grey rug. “Okay. Okay. You can say no to this suggestion, but... what if you lie in your bedwithme?”

His eyebrows cinch together over his nose. “You want us to sleep together?”

“Don’t put it like that,” I groan. How badly am I blushing? Can he tell? “That bed is pretty huge.”

“A California King,” he agrees.

“Right. Um. There’s enough space that we can keep from touching.”

He’s definitely smiling now. “I suppose.”

Crouching, I pick up the pillow, carrying it to the bed. “You can liehere.”I place the pillow firmly on the edge of the side closest to the door. “And I’ll sleep there.” Moving the opposite pillow as far over as I can without it falling off the mattress, I look to him for approval. “Once I pass out, you can leave.”

He holds up a hand. “I get it. I’ll be your guard dog. I’ll crash on the couch downstairs once I hear you snore.”

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