He twisted at the waist, and I melted into his soothing embrace. We didn’t say anything for a while, but that was okay. I didn’t expect this kind of reception, especially those first few seconds where he looked so…angry. It was almost like he didn’t believe it was me.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Am now.” He petted my hair and kissed the top of my head. “Am now…”
He claimed my mouth with a possessive, yet tender urgency. I immediately opened to him, instinctively knowing the rightness of it. Needing it. Needing him. This past week with no working, no seeing him, only hanging out at the penthouse with Angelina, preparing it for Lizzie’s arrival, I realized how much I missed Drey. How much I craved him.
Thanks to a few pep talks from Angelina—even Lizzie via Facetime—they helped me realize that, too. I couldn’t throw love down the drain like I’d intended to. Hell, I even had the bus ticket. The departure time had come and gone and I was still here, but it was a nice reminder of what I’d almost done.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered against my lips as he set me back on my feet. I hadn’t even realized he’d lifted me. Then again, everything that was Drey was overwhelming, distracting, and completely amazing.
“I’m sorry. So sorry, Drey.”
“It’s all good. All good.” He kissed me again, a little less intensely, but still a kiss full of promise. A kiss of commitment. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Where were you?”
“Angelina’s. But…thank you for the teddy bears.” I cupped his face. I missed his smooth skin. “I stopped by my place a few times to check on things and found them.”
He guided me away from the front entrance, glancing around the parking lot. “Glad you got them. What…are you doing here? I mean, I’m glad you are. So glad, but what’s going on?”
“Knew you were here with the babies. You—”
“Oh, yeah. I didn’t…volunteer tonight.” He glanced around for the third time, and that kicked my paranoia into high gear for sure.
“What’s wrong, Drey? You’re…scaring me.”
“Nothing. It’s okay.”
“If you didn’t volunteer, what are you doing here?”
He took my hand in his, and we walked down the sidewalk to the main street in front of the hospital. He veered left in the general direction of his apartment.
“Hey, honey.” A strange female voice trickled into the night. It was a little slurred and…raspy.
Drey stopped and yanked me behind him.
“You left AMA,” Drey said to the woman.
She was about five-six, gaunt, and her skin was pasty white. Huge, dark bags lined both of her eyes, and, if I could see it properly, she was missing a couple teeth. Other than that, she had long, flowing brown hair and wore a fur coat.
I’d seen plenty of strung out women before, and she was the poster child if there ever was one.
“Who do we have here, dear?” she asked, looking at me.
I stood straight and offered my hand as I stepped out from behind Drey. “Sarah. And you are…”
She grinned. “She’s pretty, Drey. She yours?”
“Are you okay?” he asked, completely ignoring the woman’s question.
“Never better.” She wavered in the slight breeze like a dead leaf in winter.
Oh yeah, she was high.
“But I’m a little hungry.”
“Can’t take you to the mission in your condition. You just got out and you’re already high?” Drey’s jaw tensed. “Looking to get admitted to the morgue next time?”
I was surprised at the harsh tone in Drey’s voice and his hard stare.