“Is there anything you want to talk about?”
“Why would there be anything to talk about?” She looked out the window.
“You are pretty quiet.”
She turned back toward me. “Our IDs imply we’re married.”
“They do.”
“Isn’t that weird?”
“No. It’s safer that way. It gives us protection.”
“Oh.” She looked away again.
“Come on, Firefly. Talk to me.”
“Could you help put me to sleep? You claim it’s not you, but I don’t believe you.”
“I can’t put you to sleep, but why would you want me to?” My anger had melted away and turned into worry. Was she really upset about the dream? That made it slightly better.
She sighed. “Fine. What do you want to talk about then? The weather? Sports? I haven’t read or heard the news in over a week so I won’t be able to discuss current events.”
“You’re sassy today.”
“I’m sassy every day.”
“Did you sleep well?” I needed her to come clean with me. When you’re upset the best way to move on is to get it out in the open.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I have?” She watched me, but her expression didn’t change. She wasn’t making this easy.
“I wasn’t sure. You stirred a bit in your sleep.”
“Oh yeah. Sorry about that.”
“Did you have any interesting dreams?” I took my eyes off the road to look at her.
She blushed and then looked away. “Not really.”
“Are you sure?” I pressed.
“Nothing worth discussing.”
“Oh yeah?” I smiled. “You already pointed out there’s nothing to talk about, so I don’t mind hearing about it.”
“No thanks.” She looked away.
“Why not?”
“It wasn’t the kind of dream I want to share.”
“I’ve told you about my dreams about you.”
“That was your choice.”
“Want to listen to the radio?” If she wasn’t going to tell me about it, I couldn’t force her. She seemed to feel bad enough about it.
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mary Anne
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the dream from the night before out of my head. The whole night after entering the bedroom had been messed up. I’d invited Hunter into my shower. I’d let him watch me, and I watched him. What was I thinking? Had I brought that twisted sex dream on myself too? Who dreamed about not one but two men? And the end. The anger in Gage’s eyes and face. I deserved that anger, but knowing that and seeing it were different. I wish I had a clue what he was feeling. Even if the feelings weren’t pretty, it would be better than not knowing.
“Mary Anne?” Hunter was watching me instead of the road.
“Sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?” There was skepticism in his voice.
“Not answering right away.” I assumed that’s why he was staring at me.
He smiled slightly. “You answered as soon as I said your name.”
“Oh.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Me?” I put a hand to my chest.
“No, I mean the other girl sitting next to me.”
“Nothing.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. “Yes?”
“You think that’s the best idea? Couldn’t we find some place smaller? I’m sure Mary Anne doesn’t care.”
Hearing my name got my attention. I looked over at him.
“Fine. We’ll meet you there.” He hung up.
“What won’t I mind?”
“Jocelyn is insisting we stop at a local mall. She says you wouldn’t want to go to a discount store.”
“I really don’t care where, and I don’t need clothes immediately.” I wasn’t in the mood to shop. There were far too many more important things to worry about first.
“Jocelyn said there’s a decent mall close by. We can stop there.”
“I really don’t care where we go. I’ve never been a fashion focused girl. Clothes that fit are all I’m asking for, and like I said it doesn’t have to be now.”
“Jocelyn will be all over me about it if I don’t. My guess is she wants to do some shopping herself.”
“Okay.” There was no reason to spend too much time arguing about it.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to wait so long for your own stuff. I don’t generally think of clothing as more than something you have to wear for society and in your case, warmth, but I understand it has different meaning to you.”