As in dawn-hasn’t-yet-broken early.
“Mom says my fever broke. So I can play. Let’s play Minecraft!”
“Sure, buddy.” I groan getting up, my muscles stiff. “Let’s go.”
It sure beats sitting in a corner and rocking, trying to hide from the nightmares inside my own head.
“Lin says hi!” Cos says, her pretty face filling up my phone screen. I can’t stop looking at her.
Damn, I knew I’d miss her the moment she walked out the door.
A pretty girl with dirty blond hair gets in front of Cosie on the screen and waves. She has a sweet smile. “Hi, Merc!”
Sweet smile or not, she’s hiding my view of Cos, goddammit.
“Hi, Lin…” I should ask her how she is, tell her I heard a lot about her, tease her about keeping Cos hostage, but to my shock what comes out is, “Tell Cos to hurry up and come back home. It’s not the same without her.”
Fuck… I have zero control over my brain-mouth connection today, it seems.
But Lin only smiles wider.
“Aw, that’s sweet,” she croons, and thankfully moves away so I can see my CosieCat again.
It’s not sweet. It’s the goddamn truth.
“When are you coming back?” I ask and bite the inside of my cheek not to beg her to come back today, now. “I mean, are you all packed and ready?”
“Almost. I’m thinking tomorrow, probably.”
Thinking. Tomorrow. Almost.
I bury my hand in my hair and pull, swallowing a groan. “Awesome.”
“Are you all right?” She leans in closer.
And ah fuck, last thing I wanted was to worry her. “Yeah, absolutely. I’m still here, with Cole and the family. I’ll head back home later.”
“You’re tired, Mercury.”
“Oh no. I’m just in retrograde.”
That wins a laugh out of her, but then she sighs. “You’re not sleeping, are you?”
How to put this… “I slept okay. Not as bad as on some other nights.” It’s close enough to the truth to pass muster.
Because some nights are just fucked up. Compared to them, last night was a joyride.
Right.
“Merc…” There’s a shuffle I hear over the phone, and the picture shifts—then it’s Cos looking straight at me, her pretty face serious. “Did you have any more nightmares?”
Damn my inability to lie. “Yeah.”
She chews on her lip, and I groan, needing to kiss her so badly I can almost taste it. “Do you need me to come back sooner? I’ll find a way.”
I look away to hide the suspicious burn in my eyes. Guys don’t cry, dammit, especially not over small acts of kindness from their girl. “Nah, I’ll be fine. I swear.” I get myself under control, make myself not beg her to come back today anyway, and say, “Take your time to see your friend.”
“I can see her another time.” She pauses. “You look like hell.”