A Billion Reasons (Wish 8)

27 - Nightmare

Taking a moment to put her hair in a ponytail before she went downstairs, she found both men in the kitchen. Monty stood at the griddle flipping pancakes. He wore a tee shirt that didn't hug like it used to and shorts which hung on his hips. He still looked good.

"Morning."

Monty glanced at the microwave clock. "Barely."

"I didn't sleep well."

"Did you get back to sleep, Sofe?"

She turned towards Gray to answer. In the daylight, she saw how drawn he looked. Frowning, she nodded and was about to ask him the same question.

"Did you two have a late night rendezvous?"

Monty stared, with the hand not holding the spatula fisted.

Gray said, "I gave it my best shot. Seriously, I couldn't sleep and Sofia had a nightmare."

"Did you hit on her?"

Sofia held her breath. She wanted to disappear.

"She turned me down without pause."

Monty smiled. "What did you say to him?"

"No. I like the friend zone."

Monty's body relaxed and held up the spatula with a pancake on it. "Gray, how many?"

Gray's face paled. "I'll start slow. One or two."

The big man normally ate six. "I'll keep having nightmares if you don't put on some weight."

"Did you have a nightmare about us?" Monty stood tense again.

She nodded but didn't want to share details. "I told you I was worried."

Monty came around the counter and put a plate with two pancakes in front of her. "I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around her. She let him hug her but resisted the urge to hug him back.

"Let the girl breathe and eat her breakfast."

Monty let go. Sofia said nothing. His pheromones had left her lightheaded. He took his own plate with three pancakes and started to eat.

Feeling her equilibrium back, she asked, "What's next?"

"We recover. You start traveling. We'll be sticking close to home. Unless we want to R&R on the island?"

"Boston's good for now."

Sofia always felt in the dark. "What island?"

Gray said, "Rich boy has another house."

He had mentioned the Caribbean before. "Does anyone ever go to it?"

He shrugged. "Not as much as you would think."

"Where were you? Where did you get sick?"

"Across the Atlantic."

"There's a big world across the Atlantic."

Gray laughed and joined in. "We were in some of it."

"Urgh! It's so frustrating. Why won't you trust me?"

She stood and left the room. Maybe she was asking too much. If she could never be his new Sloane, she wanted to have a close friendship. It required trust and sharing secrets.

She returned to her room and began packing. Haphazardly, she threw clothes in her suitcase. Hurt and anger combusted into an emotional woman. She jumped when she turned to see Monty standing in her doorway.

"I'm sorry. We were in Africa. We got sick in Africa. We were supposed to be enjoying a safari."

"What else did you do? You were gone so long."