Summer Cursed

Isaac’s yawn brought me out of my thoughts. “I’m pretty beat from today. I think I’ll head home before I end up sleeping right here,” he said.

Besides not keeping personal items at each other’s houses, was the rule about no sleeping at the other’s place. I’d made all the rules, but he stuck to them without complaint. Mostly.

My instinct was to invite him to stay over, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Then I looked at him. Exhaustion was clear on his face.

“You probably shouldn’t drive. Why don’t you just stay in the guest room?”

“You sure about this?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

He yawned again. “If you’re sure, I’ll take you up on it. Thanks.” He stood and stretched which pulled his shirt up, giving me a glimpse of his bellybutton.

I jumped up from the couch and took a few steps away from him.

He narrowed his eyes at me, but didn’t say anything except, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I watched him walk away, wondering what I would do for the rest of the night.

Deciding to continue the research on my mark, I made some tea and hoped I’d find something helpful this time.

After two hours of nothing it was time for bed. Isaac had left the bedroom door open, and I peeked in as I walked by. He was on his back with one arm over his abdomen and the other up over his head.

His eyes opened, and we looked at each other for a minute before he shifted to one side of the bed and lifted the covers. Without a word I slid in beside him.

When I woke up the next morning, I was disoriented. It wasn’t my room and there was someone in bed with me. It took only a few seconds to remember where I was and who I was with, but it was still a little unsettling.

I’d broken my number one rule.

“Good morning,” Isaac said, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

“Yeah, uh, good morning.”

He gave me a squeeze before getting out of bed. “Stop worrying. This won’t change anything.”

“What?”

He gave a little laugh. “You’re freaking out because we literally slept together. You’re pissed at yourself for breaking your rules. I’m telling you not to worry about it. All we did was sleep next to each other like we used to when we were kids. It was a one-off. It won’t change anything.”

I nodded as I got out of bed and made my way to my room. “I put a toothbrush and fresh towels in the guest bathroom if you feel like a shower.”

“I’ll take you up on that toothbrush, but I’ll wait for the rest ‘til I get home. You okay, Em?”

I turned back to him. “Yeah, I’m okay, if you are.”

“I’m all good,” he said with his usual smirk. “Let me know how it goes today.”

I tilted my head. “Today?”

“It’s Thursday.” He pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth. “You have that meeting at Fraser’s.”

“Oh yeah!” I forgot all about my unease and did a little hop. “How could I have forgotten?”

“You’d have remembered after your coffee. Speaking of,” he said as he pressed a kiss to my temple as he passed through to the kitchen.

The gesture was a little too domestic for my comfort level, but I let it go.

A glance at the clock told me I had eight hours to kill before I had to be at Liam’s. To get my nerves under control, I went for a two-hour run then let my wolf have some time to herself. She hunted and played for another couple of hours before I decided it was time to go home. When I got there, I took a long, relaxing shower, and after drying my hair for the second time in a week, I finally made my way to the kitchen for breakfast.