Zeke(32)

I jolt awake. Sit up and punch my chest. The air fills my lungs. “I’m safe,” I say, remembering that I’m home. “I’m where I belong.” I take a deep breath. “It’s just a dream.” I open my eyes to my bedroom and take another shaky breath. “I have come back again to where I belong; not an enchanted place, but the walls are strong.”

The sun streams through the crack in my long, dark curtains. It’s still daylight. I scrub a hand over my face. What a fucking morning. After Lurlene had dropped me off, Rayna showed up at the apartment. The chick had this brilliant idea to lock herself in the basement with Slate. She plans to help get him clean by holding him hostage for a few days down there. Surprisingly, Jax went along with it. Jax and I carried Slate’s flaccid body down to the basement and then boarded up the doors.

After all that craziness, I decided to lay down for a bit and try to catch up on some zzz’s. It’s difficult to sleep next to a girl who you can’t get out of either of your heads. Last night, I didn’t sleep a wink. I wanted to remember every feeling of having Lurlene in my arms. The way she smelled, the soft tickle of her hair upon my face, her lush ass pressed against my cock. And the sounds, those cute little noises she made when she slept, were like a lullaby keeping me awake all night.

Then there was the boner.

Fuck, I reach down into my boxers and rub my blue balls. The woman is killing me. I shake my head. I can’t believe she thought that I didn’t want to fuck her. I guess that I kinda get it. It’s not as if I’ve used any of my moves on her. I’ve made no effort to try to get into her pants. If anything, I’ve struggled not to. She’s right. She scares me. I’m afraid of her, but I get the sense that she’s a little frightened of me too. With my reputation, a woman like her should be. It was smart on her part, crawling into bed with me last night. Somehow, she knew I’d never do anything with Addy right next-door.

Fucking Addy, she scared me too. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed. The walls start to shake around me as a loud hammering sound echoes through the place. I jump up and run out of my room.

“Jax! Zeke! Come on, you fuckers, open this fucking door!” I hear Slate yell from behind the boarded basement door.

Jax walks into the kitchen in a pair of jeans, scratching his chest. “He’s pissed.”

“Yeah.” I turn back to inspect the two-by-fours as they quiver beneath Slate’s pounding fits. I peek over at Jax and he lets out a laugh, and I start to laugh myself. “Holy shit.” I try to sober, snickering back another laugh. “Jax, that’s some fucked-up shit. Think he’ll ever forgive us?”

“Depends if Rayna can get through to him or not.”

“She’s okay down there, right?”

“Yeah, he won’t hurt her.”

I turn to him. “Ya sure about that?”

“Ya know it’s true.” He leans against the wall and crosses his arms over his chest. “There is such a thing as ‘the one.’ There’s someone out there who we will love until the end of time, and Rayna is that one for Slate. He’d die before he let himself or anyone else hurt her.”

“How do you know she’s the one?” The moment the question leaves my mouth, I’m fully aware that I’m asking more for myself.

How do you know when you’ve found the one? Could Lurlene be my one? If I were in Slate’s state of mind, then who would be the safest from me? Whom would I keep safe against me? Fuck, Lurlene. I’m already doing that shit by not giving in to my feelings for her. I haven’t fucked her yet, for I know that’ll just seal the deal. If that happens, then I’d give her no opportunity to be free of me. She’d love me. I know she would. I see that seal in her eyes; it wants to be broken. She’s longing to open up and let me in. It’s why she got into bed with me last night. She was capable of getting closer to me without the threat of us consummating this relationship. That’s what’s been going on these past few weeks. We’re building something here, something that eventually will need to be finished.

“I don’t know,” Jax shrugs, “but Slate does. Besides, she has her cell. She’ll text if it gets too bad.”

“But what if it’s too late? You know how fucked up he is.”

“Hell, we’re all a little fucked up, but Rayna trusts him.” He looks at me for a few seconds. “And if he knows that she trusts him, then he will trust himself.”

“Does Emmie trust you?” Man, I don’t know where this shit is coming from, but Jax is being pretty damn cool about it. Since he started seeing Emmie, he’s loosened up some. Still, it’s weird to hear my brother talk about love and shit.