The bedroom door closed in their wake.
“No! Wait!” I called after them but they didn’t return. For some reason, I really wanted them to join me — nothing sexual — just some cuddles. Was that too much to ask?
Go to sleep, girl, I told myself, because right now, you’re delusional trying to invite two strange guys into your bed.
That little voice in my head was right as it usually was.
Listening to it, I allowed myself to drift away and as I did, I heard howls in the distance.
Wolves.
Chapter 5: Jane
I woke up the following morning with the weirdest feeling.
“What a dream…” I whispered to myself as I stared at the ceiling. “Drowning, two hot guys, werewolves, and some stitches. What a combination.”
I glanced over at my alarm clock. I still had a few more minutes before I needed to get up and ready for work.
So, I replayed the dream inside my head. Now, usually, my dreams are hard to hold onto and the more I think
about them the more obscure they become. This, however, was different. I could picture both Landon and Roman with absolute clarity. It almost saddened me that they were just figments of my imagination.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
My alarm went off with its usual blare. Even though I was already awake, I jolted and when I did, I felt a throbbing pain awaken in my legs. I threw back the sheets and there they were — the stitches.
My eyes widened. So Landon and Roman were real after all.
No. They couldn’t be. They were much too strange and otherworldly. Surely, I had dreamt the whole thing.
My hand shook as I brought it toward my leg. I hesitated before touching the stitches. They stung. Oh, they were real, alright. But if they were real, then that meant that everything else was too. I tried to wrap my head around it but it only made me dizzy.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
I finally got around to turning off my alarm. The silence that followed was absolutely deafening.
Landon and Roman were real.
I had the overwhelming urge to go out into the world and find them again but I didn’t even know their last names and unless they had left me their numbers, I had no means of contacting them.
My spirit deflated once I realized that I might never see them again.
Why are you so upset over a couple of strangers? I asked myself.
“Because they were the best strangers I have ever met,” I answered aloud, before getting to my feet. It was painful to do so but it wasn’t unbearable. With a bit of a limp, I could still get around. Plus, with a pain killer or two, I should be able to get through my day. I just had to remember to take the non-drowsy kind or my boss wouldn’t be too happy with me.
I found some in the kitchen and popped them into my mouth. From there, I started a pot of coffee, because today was a day when I would definitely need it.
While it brewed, I headed into the bathroom. My hair was crusty from the saltwater. I couldn’t believe that on the night when I decided to return to the water, I had nearly drowned and, to think, I had once been on the road to the Olympics.
Olympics.
The word brought with it bitterness.
I washed it away underneath a stream of warm water. I sighed as the water cascaded down every inch of my body. There really is nothing better than a hot shower.
As I shampooed my hair, I had this strange feeling like someone was watching me. I dared to open my eyes, half expecting to find Roman standing there in all his glory but I was met with no such luck. I sighed and continued my morning routine. By the end of it, I was able to think about the duo less and less.