One
Sleep eludes me as I fight off this horrible headache.
I turn over and curl onto my side. Light from the cracked door spills across the bed and I place a pillow over my face to block it out. Sleeping in a pitch-black room has always helped in the past, but this time it isn't working. The main cause of my headache is stress. I've had so much on my mind lately I've hardly slept.
I yawn and close my eyes, feeling the pull of sleep finally taking me under. I'm nestled under a pile of blankets when a door outside my room slams, startling me awake. I gasp and my heart seizes in my throat as my bloodshot eyes widen for a split second. I lay in silence for a moment, my eyes growing heavy and I begin to drift off again, until I hear James yelling from the other room.
"You tell that little fuck he has one last chance to come clean with me or I'm dropping his case, and he can go beg another lawyer to take him on pro bono." A pause of silence. "Reece, I was paraphrasing… Yeah… I'm not in the mood. Remind him I was the fifth person he spoke to who finally said yes. He's facing life in prison. Let him know if he doesn't come clean with everything by the time I get back, I'm dropping him. All I need is two minutes with him and I'll know if he's lying."
I swear I can feel James's tension through the walls. My heart is saying go to him while my body is urging me to wait.
He’s quiet as he listens to Reece, and I catch the clatter of ice cubes falling into a snifter. The glass meets the marble countertop with a sharp clink and the lid pops from what would only be a bottle of cognac. I know him like the back of my hand. He’ll give it a little spin after he pours and take a quick sip before he responds to Reece.
I move the pillow off my face, stretch my arms above my head, and inhale. My body is desperate for sleep, but I want to see James more.
"Thanks, Reece. Just stay on top of it. I’d hate to drop him, but maybe it's time he learned a lesson."
After a pause, James lets out a lively laugh.
"Yeah, she's here. Stop thinking about her like that, you fuck," James says, and I know he’s joking. "Yeah, I'll tell her you said hi. All right, man, yeah. See ya later. Thanks again."
A tired smile tips my lips. I like hearing them banter. James and I had discussed the possibility of bringing other people into our bedroom since we are officially a couple now, but we’d both decided it was best if we didn’t. Reece has been trying to get us to recreate that hot night the three of us shared a few years ago, but James and I always say no. We're both comfortable in our relationship and don't feel the need to bring anyone else into it.
Quite frankly, I'm not sharing him.
James's footsteps echo as he strides down the hall toward our bedroom. I sense his riled presence and see a shadow appear before he opens the door and pushes his way into our room.
"Val."
I love when he calls me Val. Normally, a sly smile would curl my lips and my blood would rush with desire of what's to come at the sound of that nickname.