“Really? You are such a player, Damien. Do you always have to have a woman in your bed?” I rolled my eyes at him.
“Yeah, sometimes two, as a matter of fact.” He winked at me, and I felt a little bile rise in my mouth.
“Honestly, I don’t care what you do. To each his own. If that’s what is going to make you happy, then so be it. I honestly don’t even know why you would ask for my opinion. Please just don’t screw up Mags and my friendship. You know I have to work with her every day.” I would step off my soap box for now. I had said my piece.
“You could always join us?”
“You disgust me, Damien. Hell no.” I was done with this conversation. But with the way he set my body ablaze, I could have stayed out there all night and talked to him.
“Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.” He flipped his cigarette to the ground and then stomped on it.
“Yes, I can. All I ask is that you don’t make too much noise. I have to be at work at nine tomorrow. We have a busy day scheduled.” I started walking toward the door.
“No problem.” He gave me a devilish grin.
Mags was a moaner. Needless to say, I hardly slept a wink that night, and I wish I could say it was just because of the noise.
Damien
“No, please stop! Please stop! Wes, you will regret this. No!”
Fuck, Sydney’s cries woke me. I ran my callused hand down my face and rubbed my days’ worth of scruff. Checking the time, I noticed it was the ass crack of dawn. I slid my legs over the side of the bed, grabbed my boxers and pulled them up, and headed to her room. She needed me even if she thought otherwise and I planned to be her rock. I didn’t knock. I just charged in.
Sitting on the bed next to Sydney was unreal. She thrashed around and continued to cry out. I wish that I could take this pain away from her. There was clearly something troubling her, and eventually, I would get behind it. My instinct told me it had to be about this Wes guy. I don’t think it was a simple breakup, either. Perhaps he got violent with her. Something. It was really disturbing, and I wanted to know more.
Nudging Sydney with my hand, I tried to wake her. “Sydney.”
When that didn’t get a response, I tried nudging her again.
Still no response, so I pulled her hair back away from her ear and said soothing things to her
“No don’t touch me, you bastard.”
This time I shook her. “Sydney, wake up, you’re having another nightmare.”
Her eyes slightly fluttered. “Sydney, it’s just a dream. Wake up. Come back to me, baby. Let me make this all right for you.” What the fuck was I saying? I couldn’t make this okay. She obviously had big demons to slay, but the hell if I couldn’t try.
She quickly sat up ramrod straight. Zeus was now on his feet and nuzzling her with his nose.
“Sydney, you’re all right. You’re in our apartment. I won’t hurt you.”
“Wes?”
“No. I’m Damien. Your roommate, remember?” She shook her head and then blinked several times. What the fuck was going on. Why the hell did she not recognize me? This was getting crazier by the second.
“Damien, it was so real this time.” She had a thin layer of sweat all over her body and tears were leaking out slowly from the sides of her eyes.
“It’s all right, baby, there is no one here but me and you. Let me be there for you. I want to help you and make it better. It can just stay between us.” Reaching out to her, I took her into my arms where she laid her head on my chest and silently wept.
I began to rock her back and forth, whispering warm words in her ear to let her know she was safe and that I had her.
She didn’t even try to pull away. She just let me hold her. It felt amazing. Completely and utterly amazing. I actually wanted to be with this woman, not to get myself off, but to be with her. To comfort her when she was upset, take care of her when she was a mess and to take joy in her when her beautiful smile would light up my world.
We sat like that for twenty minutes, and then she pushed herself back from me and looked into my eyes. Her jade eyes penetrated mine. “Thank you so much, Damien. I truly don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”
“Baby, I got you.” I grasped her again and held on to her while she held on for dear life. I could hear her breathing as it became less labored and only assumed she had stopped crying. I placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head and pulled away slightly.
“Do you want me to take Zeus out?” He was now standing by the door pleading for one of us to take him out.
She pulled away and ran her hands through her hair trying to tame the mess that was on her head. “I’ll go with you?”