Page 70 of Dreams and Reptiles

“That’s okay. Just rest, Kendall mine.”

His hand shot out from under the blankets and flailed around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Please? Stay?”

“I would love to.”

He sighed as he lifted the blankets on the other side of the bed and patted the mattress softly.

Could he be any more adorable?

I walked around the bed and slid under the covers in just my underwear. The house was cool, as if the AC had been working hard all day, and the sheets felt heavenly. I wished I would have showered too. I’d managed to work up a sweat carrying those creatures. I settled in next to him and watched his face go slack. I hoped he could fall into deep, restorative sleep.

He grunted a minute later and turned over.

“What’s wrong?”

“Need to set my alarm to feed the animals.”

“I got it. Go to sleep, darling.”

He turned back over onto his stomach and sighed again. “Love you.”

I closed my eyes as I felt his words with my entire chest.

This glorious man loved me.

Now it was my turn to tear up. “I love you, Kendall mine.”

I was going to love him back for all I was worth.

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Kendall

I came awake panting. Something was wrong. I was late. I was needed!

Then my entire body throbbed and seized up. Okay, it was just my hip that I’d wrenched the night before, but I was sore from head to toe.

I was way too old to be working on the Fourth of July anymore.

The grumpy tennis lady, the fuckwads and their fruit bombs, and then the poor little girl vs. the grill. It had been an awful night even before the grass fire.

Luckily, Lalo could tell I was worried by the way I blew past the line and tried taking on the whole grass fire by myself. When he’d offered to go check my house, I thought of all the things I hadn’t prepared for. Alberto knew what to do with most of the creatures, but we hadn’t come up with a way to evac the giants. I’d taken too long to get something to lift them with and now it was too late.

Late…

I sat up and gasped. I was late feeding the crew! The dim light coming under the drapes told me it wasn’t that late, but I needed to get out there. I needed to see Francis⁠—

“Francis?”

He’d been here—his side of the bed was mussed—but where was he now? Had he gone back to his place after I fell asleep?

Through the open bathroom door, I saw his clothes still hanging over the shower rod, so wherever he was… he was unclothed?