Page 82 of Regal Feather
Ev
Weren’t you the brat *tamer*, Sir?
That sounded like a lot of attitude
Tony
Pot, meet kettle
Talk about cruising for a Dom with your man, boy. That’s an order
Ev
Fine
I will, Sir
TWENTY-FIVE
santos
“Santos?”
The voice was there, recognizable.
I stiffened. It didn’t make sense. The voice was safe. I knew it was.
I just couldn’t move.
Anger surged through me. My muscles clenched, fighting it. Maybe feeding into it. I didn’t know. I still couldn’t move.
Fuck, I had to look a mess.
It was important not to do that. To look strong. Dependable. To be in control. I had to prove that I could take care of him. Of Ever.
That I could take care of myself, too.
“Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay?”
The voice was muffled, small. It still left me without air, fumbling for a way to dismiss his worry that simply didn’t exist.
I couldn’t prove shit when I was sitting on the floor, half-naked and sweaty, with my back against the bed because I couldn’t fathom the idea of sliding under the covers. Of remembering, because Ever had gone out to celebrate someone’s birthday, and I had declined tagging along so that he couldhave time alone with his friends. It had seemed like the not co-dependent thing to do. The healthy thing.
No one wanted a guy who was weak.
The word was engraved deep somewhere in my chest, reverberating around the cavity until it was all I knew.
“Shit,” he whispered. I believed he was getting closer, but I needed to focus on my breathing. On my dry throat. On all the signs that I needed to hide if I wanted to keep him in my life. “Okay, I’m going to get you some water. Okay? You stay there.”
“W-wait.”
The vine around my chest tightened, threatened to snap. I didn’t want him to see me like this, but now that he was in the same room, I couldn’t… He couldn’t leave.
One shaky breath in, and I dared to glance up. I dared to glance up at a hesitating Ever, fidgeting where he stood, close, but not too close. He remembered the thing I told him about getting too close to me when I was having a nightmare. I didn’t have the sort that would have me knocking him down in reflex, but better safe than sorry was my motto when it came to it.
“What do I do?”
“You can…” The words were like grit inside my mouth. “You can come close. If you want.”
