“Really? Hmmm,” I say without opening my eyes. My body is still tired from the events of the previous day. I’d used too much magic to protect everyone and still haven’t fully recovered yet. “I’m not really ready to get up yet,” I warn him.
“You take all the time you need.”
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Don’t get up,” I mumble sleepily to Colton. I am drifting in-between sleep and consciousness. I hear the door open, but my eyes are shut, and my body refuses to open them back up.
“Is she still sleeping?” I hear Liam ask.
“I believe so,” Colton says. I can feel him moving, probably to check and see if I am actually sleeping.
“When she wakes up, remind her to put the protective enchantment on herself. She’s the one that needs it more than us,” he says.
“Liam, what happened while you were there? She’s not telling me something,” Colton asks.
“Umm, she asked for me to watch out for everyone if something were to happen to her. She wants to make sure everyone is safe.”
“If something were to happen to her?”
“She’s just scared, Colton. She wants to make sure that we’re protected if things get out of hand.”
“But she had a vision of the future. She was fine,” he says quietly.
“Visions can change. Nothing is permanent yet.”
“She’s had too much happen to her lately. I wish I could just whisk her away from all this and let her relax for a while. She needs a vacation,” Colton says while trailing his index finger up and down my spine. I snuggle closer to him but don’t open my eyes. I hear the sound of the door closing, letting me know that Liam left the room. Expelling the breath I’d been holding, I curl closer to Colton and let sleep grab me again.
When I finally feel better, I tilt my head and look up at Colton. He is watching me sleep. I bite my lip and smile before trying to get up. Instead, Colton sits up and brings me with him. I rub my eyes and look around. The room is lit from the sunlight streaming in from the far window.
“What time is it?” I ask him.
“It’s 10:00 a.m.”
“How long was I out?”
“Off and on for the last day and a half,” he tells me while pushing a couple strands of hair off of my face.
“I slept for that long?”
“Yeah, you needed to rest. You’ve used a lot of magic recently.” I lean back and rest against his chest again.
“I’m sorry you had to stay with me the whole time,” I whisper to him.
Stretching out my back, I scoot off the bed and slowly walk toward the armoire. Ugh, I’m so stiff. I grab some clothes and look over at Colton, “Do you want to take a shower first?”
“No, you go ahead,” he says.
I walk past him and enter the bathroom. Putting my clothes on the counter, I walk back into the bedroom and hug Colton, pressing him close to me. His arms automatically wrap around me. “Thank you for staying with me,” I say into his shirt.
Kissing the top of my head, Colton says, “You never have to thank me for that, Ryanne. I’ll always stay with you.”
“You should have woken me up or something. I didn’t need that much sleep.”
“No matter what you say, you needed that sleep. Your body needed to recover. You were exhausted, and you slept it off.”
“Are you ever going to say what I expect you to say?”
“Nope, now go take your shower,” Colton says as he playfully pushes me toward the bathroom.
“Roger that, Captain,” I salute him as I close the bathroom door and jump into the warm shower, letting the hot water awaken my sleepy body.
Throwing on my Avengers t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts, I open the bedroom door and tell Colton that he can shower. Walking across the hall, I head to Emma and Natalie’s room. I haven’t been spending much time with Olive recently. Their bedroom door is already open, and when I walk in, the first thing I see is Olive sitting on Emma’s bed, trying to get down.
Help? Walking over, I grab her and walk back into my room. I can hear the shower running, so I know that Colton is already in. I sit down on the bed and release Olive, letting her walk around the mattress. Emma mean.
I laugh. “You know she doesn’t mean to do that. She’s just forgetful.”
I know.
“I’ll come and get you every morning from now on, or you can sleep in here with us,” I tell her and lay down on my back on the mattress. Olive purrs and starts jumping across the width of the bed.
“What’s so funny?” Colton asks as he opens the bathroom door and pulls his shirt down. I hadn’t realized I’d been laughing.