Page 19 of Breakaway
Marr snorts, his shoulders shaking with a silent laugh. "Unrequited. Okay."
If we weren't pulling into the underground parking garage for Reese's building, I'd ask him what he means by that. And, truthfully, a part of me wants to believe that there's a chance Reese wants me the same way I want her.
"I'll get the elevator," Marr says as he turns off the transport and hops out. "Will you get Reese?"
I don't have to answer him. He knows full well that I'll get Reese. The only problem is that I didn't realize just how out she was from everything. Even when I go to open her door, she falls out of the transport. Thankfully, she's caught by her seatbelt and my shadows, which move much quicker than I do.
I unfasten her seatbelt, keeping my shadows from getting handsy with her while she's unconscious, something they take great offense to. They're acting as if they weren't all vying to get up her dress when we were on the beach. I hoist Reese upinto my arms, surprised when she doesn't do anything other than mumble her irritation at being jostled and then nuzzles up against me. There's a sense of pride that fills me as she sleeps in my arms. It's a pleasure that comes from knowing she feels safe enough in my arms to keep sleeping.
Her restlessness has been obvious to me while sharing the apartment with her. She gets up multiple times during the night, she has to watch something until she's so exhausted she can't keep her eyes open, and even then, the little sleep she does get is fitful. I'd hoped that the longer I was in the apartment with her, the easier it would be for her to sleep through the night, but that hasn't been the case.
Marr gives me a soft, knowing shake of his head as I carry Reese onto the elevator with us.
"She's tired," I say with a whisper, though why I feel the need to defend myself to him I have no idea.
"I'm sure she is," Marr says, his tone neutral. It doesn't match the knowing smirk on his lips, but I choose to ignore it, knowing he cares about the woman in my arms as well. Not in the same way as me, even just the thought of that has my eyes narrowing on him in the mirror of the elevator's walls, my shadows tightening around Reese.
If anything, the Lokan finds my reaction humorous, and I lower the restrictions on what I don't want to hear from everyone around me, and listen in on his thoughts. Besides finding it amusing that I'm so territorial over Reese, he's thinking about doing a perimeter around the apartment complex and whether or not they should call in takeout since Reese is tired and probably won't want to cook for everyone tonight.
I clench my teeth, upset for not thinking about it first.
"Would you mind ordering something for all of us?" I ask Marr.
He looks at me like he has no idea what I'm talking about, which is fair. No one is ever expecting someone to ask questions or make comments based on their thoughts, and it's seen as quite rude to do so. Something I seem to be forgetting when it comes to taking care of Reese.
"For dinner," I say, giving him a soft shrug of my shoulders as an apology for listening in on his thoughts. If Marr cares, he doesn't show it.
"You got it," he says as the door slides open.
I step out, but he remains inside, pulling his comm out of his pocket. I reduce the loudness of his thoughts, letting my shadows take on the brunt of shuffling through all of the thoughts in the apartment complex, since I'd be an irritable mess if I had to listen to all of them.
"Brandr's waiting to talk to you. He said there was something that happened earlier that you'll want to know about."
I don't like the sound of that one bit, but I still have a sleeping Reese in my arms who needs to be taken care of, so I tell Marr I'll deal with it and head down the hall for her apartment. Just like Marr said, Brandr is waiting at her front door, leaning up against it and doing something on his comm.
When I approach, he looks up, smiling when he sees Reese in my arms. He has a mate somewhere here on Earth and two kids. Reese has told me frequently all about them, and Brandr himself is the first to sing their praises and tell us all how much he misses them. According to him, pay is good for security work. When it comes to twenty-four-seven work, like with Reese, he'll have enough after three months to take some time off and spend with his family before taking on less demanding jobs until another high-paying opportunity comes around.
"Marr said you wanted to talk to me?" I ask, my voice still a whisper.
"Care if we do it in the apartment?" Brandr asks.
"Yeah, her keys are in her purse, if you want to grab them," I say, but he doesn't need to.
He pulls out a key ring, flipping through the few keys on it until he gets to the one he needs, and then he's unlocking the plethora of locks that Reese has installed on her front door. He senses the question I have and answers it before I get a chance to ask it.
"Reese made us copies after we kicked her last door in," Brandr says with a slight chuckle. "Thought it was probably smarter to give us access than to kick them down every time."
I carry Reese into the apartment, looking toward the couch where she's been sleeping, much to my annoyance. I've broached the topic twice since I've been staying with her, and each time she's told me it works out better for us the way we have it. But when I'm not using her bed, I don't see any reason for her to be sleeping on the couch, especially if Brandr and I are going to be having a conversation.
"I'm going to lay her down and then we can talk," I tell Brandr.
I've kept my space tidy in case Reese ever wants to use her room or if she just wants it back for any reason. Plus, it's not like I'm a messy person in general. My room on the ship is tidy, and I have more of my belongings up there than I do in this room. Still, I look around, making sure it looks nice enough for Reese to stay in before deciding it's good.
I shift her weight, using my shadows to keep her held up as I toss the comforter and sheet to one side of the bed. As much as I'd love to keep her in my arms as long as possible, she needs some sleep, some good sleep, and hopefully she can find it.
She whines a little as I pull away from her, my shadows trying to make an argument for staying wrapped tight around her, but I pull them back and ignore their protestations. Before covering Reese up in the blankets, I slip her sandals off her feetand set them by the bedroom door. I know I'm taking liberties I shouldn't, but when I pull the comforter over her, I can't stop myself from leaning down and brushing my lips against her temple. Since I want to be able to hear Reese if she needs anything, I leave the door cracked and then go to speak with Brandr.
"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, moving to the couch to fold up the blankets Reese uses for her bed so we have somewhere to sit. She won't care since she usually does this every morning, but she was up all night panicking about everything we had to do today. She slept in until she couldn't anymore this morning and didn't have time to fold everything.
