Page 113 of Run
“I’ll come with you.” I dart up, but my legs give out from under me, and I stumble.
Fonz makes it to me just before I fully hit the ground. “Shit, girl. You OK?”
Ethan stirs but doesn’t wake.
“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m fine. Just wobbly sometimes after I’ve been sitting for a while. I shouldn’t have jumped up like that. I’ll be good. I just have to take it slow.”
Fonz leads me down the hallway and into the kitchen where I lean against the island as he fishes two bottles of water out of the fridge. He hands me one and I nod in thanks. “How often does this happen?”
Fonz takes a drink. “They’ve been more frequent lately.”
“How often are we talking? Every night?”
He shakes his head. “No. I’d say about three nights a week.”
“How long has he had them?”
Fonz blows out a breath that rustles the hair on his forehead. “Well, I remember Jules saying something about them once—”
“Jules?!” I whisper-shout. “That was several years ago! Ethan’s been having nightmares for that long?” He gives me a tight smile. “Are they about his father? Is it from his time in the service? Does he ever talk about it?”
Fonz stares right into my eyes as he forms a hard line with his lips and slowly shakes his head before looking away. “No. I don’t know what they’re about.”
“Shit. Fonz, why didn’t you tell me about this?”
He barks out a laugh. “You know, you guys seem to forget that neither one of you wanted to know anything about the other for a very long time. And now you’re pissed that you can’t fill in all the missing pieces. Unbelievable.”
He spins around and returns his half-empty bottle of water to the fridge.
“Damn, Fonz. I’m sorry,” I apologize. “You’re right. I’m just shocked. And sad.”
“I know.” He comes around the island for me. “It’s OK. Let’s just go back to bed. If he wakes up and you’re not there, all hell will break loose.”
As we walk slowly back toward Ethan’s bedroom, we pass the door to Fonz’s room, and a male voice calls out. “Fonz? You alright, babe?”
My eyebrows shoot up and Fonz slumps his shoulders, knowing he’s been caught. “Not one word,” he says as he ushers me into Ethan’s room and reaches for the door to close it in my face.
“Just one teeny, tiny word!” I stick my hand in the doorway to block it from closing.
Fonz curses under his breath and tips his head back. “Fine, just get this the fuck over with.”
I wait for him to look at me before I whisper, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
“Casablanca,” he answers without hesitation. “Now go back to bed.”
He pulls the door shut as I smother a giggle, turn around, and look at my big, sleeping man, and wonder if I’m not the only one keeping secrets.
ETHAN
The smell of citrus and sweetness pulls me from sleep, and I reach out to find the source so I can smother myself in it. But as I pat the bed next to me, all I get are fistfuls of bed sheets.
“Ari?” I sit up in a rush.
Looking around my empty bedroom, I see her clothes on the floor, and when her laughter seeps into my senses from somewhere else in the house, I instantly calm. Tugging on a pair of boxers and sweats, I go in search of her, and find Ari, along with Fonz and Matt, in the kitchen.
“Morning, roomie,” Fonz chirps as I stroll in.
“Morning.” I nod in return.
