“Wake up, sleepyhead.” A gentle touch on my shoulder had me on guard and I jumped from the couch I’d crashed on, ready to do battle. When I acclimated to my surroundings, I realized I was at Goose’s home. I knew where he stashed his extra key and had used it to get inside. I hoped his home was a place I would be safe, a place Disco wouldn’t come looking for me. The amulet would make sure he couldn’t track me down, but it didn’t prevent him from trying.
“Hey, it’s all right.” Goose didn’t come closer. “It’s only me.”
I shook my head, attempting to stem the flow of dreams that had arrived the moment I’d fallen asleep. Nightmares of Ray laughing at my tears, forcing me to take him exactly as he wanted, driving into me over and over again despite my pleas to stop as Jennifer watched from a chair in the corner.
“How about I make us some coffee?” Goose stood exactly where I’d first spotted him, watching me carefully.
Clearing my throat, I nodded. “Coffee sounds good.” At the very least, if I did vomit, it would be something liquid and not solid.
As he left to walk to the kitchen, I made a beeline for his bathroom. The light hurt my eyes, but only for a moment. When I saw my face, I wanted to kick myself in the ass. I recognized the woman in front of me. The swollen, puffy eyes, the tearstained cheeks. I’d sworn in a time not so long ago I’d never return to this state, not for anyone or anything.
Taking a fortifying breath, I turned the knobs and waited until the water steamed. It blistered my hands and face as I scrubbed at my skin, removing traces of the previous night’s events. When I surfaced, the puffiness was still there, and I was red all over. It didn’t do me any favors superficially, but it helped mask the grief I still felt.
Goose was waiting in the kitchen, and I sat at his table. A cup of coffee was waiting for me, full of cream and sugar. I took a hearty sip and followed it up immediately with another. I tasted a hint of chocolate and mint, which should have set my stomach off but soothed it instead.
“Gabriel’s looking for you,” Goose informed me as he took a seat, and I started to stand when he lifted his hand. “I told him you weren’t here.”
Suspicious and leery, I placed my ass on the cushioned chair. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you never run. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never run from anyone or anything. When I found you on my couch, I knew that something very bad must have set you off.”
“Disco didn’t tell you?” I reached for my cup again.
“He told us about the time travel, which I confess, I find hard to believe. He also told us why you did what you did last night and the repercussions that would have occurred had you not interfered.”
After taking a heaping swallow, I asked, “That’s it?”
“That’s it. He ended the meeting and went back to his room. When he discovered you’d left, he tried to find you on his own until the sun rose. Right now he’s relying on me to find you. I went by your apartment, so I called and told him you weren’t there, which was true. When I found you here, I called and told him you weren’t here either. I figured I’d give you time to sort things out.” He hesitated and produced the warm smile I knew so well. “Or to talk to a friend, if you want.”
It was so tempting to lay it all out there, but Goose was Disco’s familiar too. It wouldn’t take much for him to sort through his memories to find out how I felt about what he’d done.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It wouldn’t do anything right now but confuse me even more.”