“Too busy to stop by for a nooner tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Clear an hour. Just an hour.”
She covers her mouth and yawns. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I hold her until she is fully relaxed and still. I give it a few minutes before I look down and see she is, in fact, asleep.
I pull her a little closer then reach over and set the alarm on my phone for an hour.
?
I wake to small little whimper and her shaking in my arms. I hold my lips to her head as I rub her back. I want her to wake up feeling safe.
“No, no, no!” She tries to sit up, but I hold her tighter as she begins to cry.
I continue rubbing her back. “Baby, you awake?”
“Uh-huh.” Her voice quivers.
“Do you dream like this every night?”
“When I sleep.”
My heart shatters into a million pieces.
“I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”
She snuggles in closer, and my alarm sounds.
“Stay still.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“An hour. What plans do you have for the rest of the day?”
“None, but they’ll wonder where I am.”
I quickly send Jade a text. “Jade will cover for you. Where’s your phone?”
“On the floor somewhere.”
I get up and send a text to Harper from her phone then lie back down. “You’ll sleep for a while. Logan won’t be home for five hours.”
“Don’t you have to work or something?”
“No, I have to hold a girl together so she can continue having the strength to do it for everyone else. I’m that man for you, Tessa. Don’t fight it. Don’t push my buttons ’cause you know damn well where to push until I go off. Accept it. Fuck, embrace it. It’s gonna happen, anyway.”
“Then stop pushing me,” she whispers.
“Sleep.”
And she does.
I don’t. I hold her and wait for the next bad dream to cause pain to the woman I love.
She sleeps. No bad dream. No crying out.