He pulled the covers up over our heads this morning when the alarm went off and refused to budge, his lips pressed against my ear, his arms around me tightly.
Don't move. If you move they'll see us and we'll have to get up.
Who will see us?
...THEM.
OH NOES.
YESSES.
Then let's stay here all day and they'll get bored and move on.
Except I gotta go to work. Who's idea was this again?
Yours, I thought? You can stay home and I'll take care of you.
We had this discussion already. I'll see you at dinner and if I'm lucky, at lunch.
I can't wait.
Me neither. Lochlan kisses me hard and off he goes and I burst into tears.
I don't have the guts to call Claus this morning.
I really don't. Deathbed is going through my head in my own voice and Ben didn't come up last night because he gets busy and forgets to live like a human instead of a vampire and I turn off my phone and close my eyes again.
When I wake up next Joel is sitting on the edge of my goddamned bed.
You missed your call window, Bridget.
You can go. I don't know who let you up here but you can go.
PJ wants you to honor your agreements.
PJ's a dead man.
He didn't let me up here. I just came up. He didn't see me.
Even better. Should I scream since you won't go? You're a technical intruder.
You going to keep your promises or not? Claus asked me to referee your sessions with him so you don't shortchange yourself so here I am and you can launch all the personal attacks you like, but you're going downstairs to talk to him via facetime.
I am but not as long as you're here so if you leave I will.
You promise?
GET OUT.
I'm going but if you're not downstairs in five minutes I'm bringing everyone up with me.
If you're not out of my house in five minutes I'm calling the cops.
Oh, it looks like it's a perfect day for Claus after all. Good luck, Bridget.
I pull the covers back over my head but when it gets hard to breathe I fling them off. I'm alone. The door is closed and it feels like I'll never get back to where I was and all I want is for Loch to come home or Ben to come upstairs and everything else to go away.
That's all.
