Free Lover's Roulette by E. L. Todd Page A

stared at me with anger in his eyes. “I woke up and couldn’t find you. You weren’t in the bathroom and you left your phone in the room. You scared the shit out of me.”
    “I didn’t want to wake you.”
    “You r absence is more likely to wake than an alarm clock, Scar. I can’t sleep without you. You can type in bed.”
    I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hide my emotion.
    He was shirtless, standing in his boxers. Normally, I would yell at him to go inside because I didn’t want anyone to see him, but I was too upset. Sean recognized my pain immediately. “Babe, what’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” I whispered.
    He stared at me, trying to figure out what to do. After a moment, he walked inside and shut the door. I remained on the floor in the hallway, unsure if he would come back. The door opened again and Sean walked out, wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. He sat beside me and grabbed my hand. He said nothing for a long time.
    His hand felt warm in mine—blazing. Some how his body temperature was always scorching. Sharing a bed with him in the winter time always kept the cold away. His fingers caressed mine, lightly gliding across the skin. He brought my hand to his lips then kissed it before he returned it to my lap. He still didn’t say anything, waiting for me to speak first.
    I looked away, hiding my face.
    “Babe, let’s go inside,” he whispered.
    “No.” I wasn’t sure why I said that. It seemed like I wanted to be ornery for no reason at all.
    He leaned his head against the wall but didn’t argue with me. “You’re still drunk.”
    That was obvious. My head was still pounding.
    He grabbed my computer. “I’ll be right back.” He took it inside then returned a moment later. When he sat beside me, next to the wall, a man walked by then entered his room across the way. I was just wearing his boxers and t-shirt with no bra on, so Sean casually put his arm across my chest so it would block the outline of my tits. He was always possessive of my chest. He treated it like a separate entity, like how Cortland treated Monnique’s ass like a separate person. I was surprised he didn’t get mad at me.
    After the man disappeared, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. “Let’s go inside, babe.”
    “I don’t want to.”
    He wrapped his arms around me and picked me up anyway. I didn’t fight it and let him take me back inside. He laid me on the bed then pulled off the clothes I was wearing. He tucked me inside the bed then placed t he laptop at the foot of the mattress. “What is it, babe?”
    I hugged my chest as I lied there, unable to s ay anything. I thought I would cry if I tried to speak.
    Sean knew me better than anyone. He knew exactly what I was feeling without having to say anything. He pulled back the cover s and climbed on top of me, pinning me down. “Nothing can get past me.” That was his promise to protect me from anything and everything.
    I ran my hands up and down his chest. “I know,” I whispered.
    “You’re safe.”
    I wrapped my legs around his waist and held him close to me. I always felt better when he was near me, protecting me with his muscled frame and wide chest. There was nothing coming for me, but I appreciated the solid wall of concrete anyway.
    He pressed his forehead against mine. “Babe, tell me.”
    “I just had a bad dream.”
    “About what?”
    I felt the grooves of his chest with my fingertips, avoiding his gaze. “My mom.”
    He didn’t react, keeping calm. “And what happened?”
    “I—I don’t want to say.” I blinked back the tears.
    He pressed his lips against the skin under my eyes and kissed the moisture away. “It’s okay.”
    “It’s just hard for me to talk about. I wrote it down instead.”
    “Do you want me to read it?”
    I nodded.
    “Okay. But how about you get some sleep first?”
    “I’m too upset to sleep.”
    “Then what do you want to do? Get some ice cream?”
    “It’s three in