Free Compelled (The Secrets of Dragons Book 1) by Kat Barrett Page B

“I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “We’ll be home soon,” said Alex, but she wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or Eric.
    “I’m stunned I slept so long.”
    “You obviously needed the sleep.”
    Sleep yes—she did a quick calculation in her mind. She had slept fourteen hours and had only been awake about six hours before that. Was she ill that she required such an unthinkable amount of rest? She didn’t feel sick. Lou got up and went to the bathroom.
    When she swaggered back into the main room, she stopped behind Eric’s seat, rocking back and forth with the flow of the vehicle. “Do you want to go lie down? I can sit here.”
    “No, it will make me sicker.”
    It had never made him sick before.
    “Please go sit down,” Alex said. “It’s not safe for you to be standing up.”
    She had obviously lost her standing as copilot. Normally Eric would be all too happy to sprawl out on the sofa after almost twenty-four hours with no sleep. “Did something happen while I was sleeping?”
    “No,” Alex said flatly. “We’re just trying to get home before rush hour starts.”
    That made sense. They obviously weren’t in a mood to talk. Lou got up and got her phone from her purse. It surprised her neither man turned around to see what she was doing. She sat back down and opened the screen. There were a few messages from Facebook, and she took the time to read them and respond. Around her, she took note of the cabin getting lighter as the sun came up. The silence was unnerving and she suddenly longed to be home. Having no idea what else to do, she opened up her Facebook account and started to scroll through the posts. There were some funny memes and some of the posts were interesting. It was also a way to pass the time in the dead silence of the RV.
    She took note of a post where a woman was bitching up a storm about a man who had slept with her and then blown her off. Was that what was happening to her? Had the men gotten what they wanted and were no longer interested? It didn’t make sense because Alex was the one who put sex on hold. Had it been whatever happened at his sister’s house? He had never told her the details. Was it possible he considered what his sister had said and decided she was right? More likely she was overreacting and stressing out over nothing. They were simply tired. Lou shut the internet down and opened one of her games. She was still playing when she felt them slow to a stop. Looking out the window, she saw they had just gotten off the highway. Within ten minutes or so they would be back at the campground. What would happen then, she had no idea.
    ****
    Alex backed into the spot in the first shot. He turned the motor off and turned on the automatic leveling system. It meant all three of them had to sit perfectly still or the movement would throw off the stabilizers. The sound stopped and he felt Lou get up. Eric stood and walked past her into the bathroom. He was going to hide out and let him do all the dirty work. Thanks, Eric . Alex got up to open the door. “I’ve gotta get this set up. If you don’t mind, could you go home? Eric and I are beat, and I’m sure you aren’t tired.
    “I’m not. Is everything okay? It seems like something isn’t right between us. The two of you are being absolutely icy to me. Did I do something?”
    “No, you didn’t do anything, Lou. We’re just tired.” It was a cheesy excuse for now. They had briefly discussed what to do, but had come up with nothing. They had also been concerned she would wake up and hear them talking so they had dropped their discussion. After twenty hours on the road he really was tired. This was not how the trip was meant to go, but right now to be around her was dangerous. She was also waiting for a kiss, and he needed to give her one. To completely blow her off would be heartless and neither of them wanted to lose her. The problem was keeping her, when they couldn’t have sex, which she would now be expecting. Even