Page 62 of With This Kiss
I looked away from him and out to the frozen lake in front of us. Reign pulled the blanket over me a little more, and we sat like that as the sun slowly peeked through the clouds. We didn’t say anything as we watched the world slowly wake up.
“You said this is tradition?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. When I was little, my mom used to bring me to this cabin, and every morning we spent here, without fail, we would watch the sunrise together.”
He used the same tone when talking about his mom that I used when talking about Etta. He talked about his mom as if she were dead, when I knew that wasn’t the case.
“Does she not come here anymore?” I asked.
“She doesn’t leave the house much these days. Mostly only to accompany my dad for his… work.”
Right.
I nodded.
I didn’t ask anything else, sensing he didn’t really want to talk about his mom much. Reign stood up suddenly with me still in his arms and headed back toward the cabin.
“I can walk, you know.”
His gaze moved down to mine. “I know.”
He didn’t let me down, just continued back to our room.
He set me back down on the bed and helped me remove the three layers of clothes he had put on me before we went outside, then took off his own jacket and climbed back into bed with me.
“Go to sleep,” he said, wrapping his arms around me from behind, lying in the same position we had been in the night before. “I’ll wake you up at a more appropriate time.”
I tapped on the hand he had pressed against my stomach to show I heard him before I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
The next timehe woke me up was at a more reasonable hour, though I didn’t feel very well rested. It was because of how many times I woke up the night before. Still, I knew I couldn’t spend all day in bed. After all, we were heading back home this afternoon.
After my morning routine, I left the room, finding the kitchen full and busy. But thankfully, it seemed all the women who had come here with Reign’s friends had decided to head home early.
Including Rose.
Baran noticed me first, his smile widening as he walked over and engulfed me in a hug. I tensed in his arms, unsure of what to do as that familiar feeling of ants crawling all over me came on.
So Reign hadn’t exactly “cured” me of this.
I was just getting used to his touch… the same way it had been with Etta.
Makar came over to us and pulled Baran away. “Stop it. Can’t you see she’s uncomfortable? And if Reign sees you making a move on his girl, he’ll kick your ass.”
“Oh, I would like to see that pretty boy try,” Baran said, looking at me and winking.
And here I thought Reign was trouble.
“Would you like some breakfast?” Makar asked me.
I nodded, and Baran pulled out a chair for me next to Fabian.
“Thank you,” I said, sitting down. I glanced briefly at Fabian before looking away. Of Reign’s three friends, Fabian was the one I was most wary of.
He wasn’t as friendly as Baran, or as nice.
He was mostly indifferent, and I didn’t know what to make of him.
Plus, every time I was near him, I got this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach that made me want to stay as far away from him as possible.
