“Ummmm, maybe a little.” I know it’s not going to fly with Tay, as I can’t even begin to be convincing. I’m a terrible liar, and I’m out of breath because my body feels cold, and I kind of want to go back to being semi-crushed. I want to feel what Taylen’s arms are like again, wrapped around me. I want his breath tickling my neck, his snores buzzing in my ears, and I want…no. That’s crazy. I don’t want any of those things. I’ve just been rather…dry in the sex department as of late. That’s what’s going wrong. The prolonged chastity has gone straight to my lady bits, wrecking them like mold does to…to…lord, what a terrible image. I don’t want to think of my vag as being moldy. Dusty maybe. But moldy?
“Oh my god.” I think what was really happening finally sunk in with Taylen. “My dong!” he practically screeches. “Did I touch you with my dong?”
“Ummm, no?”
“Gaaaahhhhh! I thought…I mean, I was sleeping. I… there are these things that guys sometimes get, like dreams. But they weren’t about you. They were just…I was out cold, and my brain was playing tricks on me. I thought you were Jeffers.”
“Gah!” Now it’s my turn to scream. “You were dreaming about my dog?”
“No!” He rushes to the lamp on the end table and flicks it on. We both blink at each other like vampires in the daylight, trying to get used to the bright white light. He rakes his hands through his hair. Four times! Shit is indeed bad because I can’t remember the last time I saw him do that. It’s a double and then a double. “No, god! Jeffers jumped on the bed last night, and I was cuddled up to him. I was not having dreams about the dog. I thought he was you. Wait, no. That’s wrong. I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t…I wasn’t having dreams about you or your dog. And they were not sexual in nature.”
“You’re making this worse.”
With a huff, Taylen stalks to his duffel bag, which is upside down on the floor. He picks it up, rips out some clothes, and jams on a pair of jeans while still wearing the shorts he had on to sleep. He seems to see the problem but then pulls them on anyway, like a shield.
“It’s fine,” I try and tell him. “I get it. We’re adults. It doesn’t matter to me that you might have uh, touched me with your…um…well, parts in your sleep. It wasn’t on purpose.”
“Where did the bags go?” He looks horrified.
“I could have kicked them off.”
“No, I probably kicked them off. I could have…I could have taken advantage of you in your sleep! Dear god, that’s entirely sick and wrong!”
“That’s not what happened. You were fast asleep. And I know you would never do that to me. I kind of liked being held by you.” Okay, I didn’t mean to say that last bit. I clasp a hand over my mouth while Taylen looks at me with the kind of horrified expression that Jeffers often uses with me when he’s done something terrible, and he knows it.
“This is messed up!” Taylen huffs as he continually rakes his hair. His hair now looks like he just got zapped by a strike of the same lightning that was flashing earlier. “We are getting out of here and going back to NOLA.” Seeing my instant panic, he goes on, thinking on his feet, which I suck at doing. I’m not a good problem solver, especially when under stress, but that’s kind of Taylen’s forte. “Don’t worry. I’m not taking you back to your parents. You can come to my place and sleep in the guest room. First, though, we’re going to see my granny because this is all about the curse. I know it is.”
I have to blink at him again like he just switched on the light and blinded me for a second time. “We were just sleeping. Nothing happened. I don’t think you can blame this on a cursed brooch. God, I can’t believe I’m even saying that. Anyway, I think the only one you have to blame it on is me. For needing to be rescued. And for not planning ahead properly and getting two rooms.”
“I booked the room!”
“Well, I could have done it. Anyway, we can easily blame the bed situation on the motel for messing up the reservation and not having any other rooms. I don’t think you can draw a correlation between this and the curse.”
“I was cuddling you in my sleep! I broke through a wall of luggage!”
“Well, uh, what happened was just a combination of physical stimulation while you were dreaming about other things. Hot women, I hope, and not my dog. Or me. You thought it was something else, so you can’t blame the curse for that either.”