A Perfect Ten

Page 92

The fact that he’d ended up with a woman named Zoey had almost been too eerie to take at first. Blondie was the antithesis of how my sister had been, but still...with the same name and the way she’d hooked up with Hamilton, I hadn’t been able to brush off the brotherly feelings I’d grown for her.
“Are you okay?” she asked, climbing onto the bed with worried eyes to sit beside me. “You were yelling my name.”
I shuddered. “Was I?”
“It freaked us out.” Ham sat on the corner, his expression matching his woman’s.
I cleared my throat and glanced away. “Yeah, well...sorry about that.”
“You were dreaming about your sister, weren’t you?”
With a glare at Ham for even asking that and an internal cringe at myself for once admitting to them that I’d had a sister named Zoey, I then glanced away and gave a nod.
Blondie took my hand. “Do you want me to change my name? I would. For you.”
“That’s sweet,” I said and sent her a small smile as I squeezed her fingers thankfully. Then I pulled her toward me and gave her a hug. “But, no. I’ll just keep calling you Blondie.”
She nodded. “Okay. I like Blondie. It’s way better than Milk Tits.”
I pulled out of the hug to scowl at her. “Milk Tits is a kick-ass nickname.”
She laughed and shook her head. “No. It’s actually really awful.” But as soon as her smile started, it settled. “Do you want to talk about it? Your nightmare.”
God, no. The last time I’d talked about this shit, I’d ended up with this very nightmare. I was done talking. I shook my head. “No. I’m good. You guys can go back to sleep.”
“Are you sure?” Ham asked. “Can we get you some water or anything?”
Damn. These two. Their sweetness was beginning to make my teeth rot. “Mom. Dad.” I lifted my hands. “I’m fine. Seriously. I’m sorry for waking you. Now get back to bed.”
And finally, they relented. Blondie had to give me another hug and Ham patted my shoulder, but once they were gone, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I tossed and turned and before I knew it, I was grabbing my phone off the nightstand and zinging a text off to Caroline.
After writing, Nobody puts baby in a corner, I sighed and tossed the phone back onto the counter, only for it to immediately ding with a response. Not expecting her to write back at this time of night, I picked it up, thrilled to see it really was from her.
Why are you sending me a Dirty Dancing quote at two in the morning?
I grinned, and immediately, my chest felt looser. I could breathe easier, and the headache that had been forming behind my eyes abated completely. I’ve been studying up. I wanted to wow my sexy movie-expert girlfriend with my new knowledge of movie one-liners.
Well, I’m not wowed. Everyone knows THAT line.
So, I typed, Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
To which she typed back, Clark Gable. Gone with the Wind. Send a real challenge already. I’m yawning over here.
A grin lit my face. Maybe you’re yawning because you’re up at two in the goddamn morning. Maybe someone needs to…make you an offer you can’t refuse.
GODFATHER. And you’re the one waking me up at two in the goddamn morning. What’s up with that?
I was leaving a message for you to read when you woke up. I didn’t mean for it to actually wake you, Rosebud.
Well it woke me, Citizen Kane. What’re you doing up now, anyway? You didn’t work tonight.
I debated over whether I should tell her, but then I shrugged. What the hell? Bad dream, I typed.
Two seconds later, my phone rang. I shook my head and answered. “Yes?”
“What were you dreaming about?”
“It was nothing,” I started, only for her to talk over me.
“It was about your sister, wasn’t it? We had that big heart-to-heart on the roof earlier and it brought up a bunch of memories. Damn it, I should’ve suspected this might happen.”
“A misdiagnosis from Dr. Caroline?” I gasped. “I think I’m going to need a refund from our last session.”
There was a pause before she said, “I don’t even know what that means. You’re not regretting that sex on the theater roof, are you?”
“Fuck, no.” I laughed, and damn, it felt good to laugh. I was actually glad my text had woken her. Just hearing her voice was already making me feel better. “I don’t know what I meant,” I admitted. “It just sounded good.”