Craving Constellations by Nicole Jacquelyn Page A

didn’t know what to do with myself now. Did I want to stop running? I hadn’t felt so secure or at home in five years, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be an old lady. I had the same fears that had plagued me five years ago when I found out I was pregnant. I didn’t know if raising Trix here was what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t take her away from Dragon now. Did he expect what he’d said to me to just change everything? That we’d start where we had left off the last time I saw him?
    My mind was racing. In my head, I reminded myself that he was taken, but I couldn’t get over the feeling that he had always been mine.
    It was hours before I fell asleep.

 
    I woke up to a rough hand rubbing back and forth across the tattoo covering my lower stomach. The white wall I was facing didn’t look familiar, but it only took a few seconds for me to realize where I was and who was lying behind me. I leaned up on one elbow, brushing my hair out of my face, and turned my head to look at the man behind me. Mornings had never been my best time of the day, and I blamed that on the sleepy smile I sent in his direction. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were adorably sleepy.
    I had seen him asleep before, five years ago, but never when he had just woken up. After our night all those years ago, I had left while he was sleeping to get something to drink and brush my teeth, fully intending to climb back into bed with him. The boys and their toys never woke up early after a party, and I was glad to have some extra time with him before we acted like strangers. But when I was scrambling to grab my toothbrush out of the bag in the backseat of my Bug, my pop and some of the boys pulled into the forecourt, and the opportunity for a lazy morning had vanished.
    “Hey, baby. Sleep good?” he asked me in a voice even scratchier than normal.
    “Yeah,” I replied in a soft voice, drinking in his morning scruff and the affectionate look he was sending me. “Where’s Trix?” I asked as I finally noticed she wasn’t in bed with us.
    “She woke up fuckin’ rarin’ to go, so I sent her to play in her room. You didn’t fall asleep for-fuckin’-ever last night, and you needed to rest.”
    “What do you mean I didn’t fall asleep?” I asked as I felt my face start to burn. “How would you know? You passed out right after you got in bed.”
    “Not gonna last long the way we live if you aren’t aware of your surroundings, babe. You were up ’til ’bout three. Your body didn’t relax ’til then.”
    The morning fog I’d been enjoying lifted as I realized he’d known I was awake and stewing for hours. I was irritated that he’d been awake the whole time I thought I’d been alone with my thoughts. My eyebrows furrowed, and I glared over at him.
    “I need to go check on the baby.”
    I tried to slip out from under his arm, but he tightened his grip and pulled me into him. He rolled from his side to partially on top of me, and his knee slipped between mine, trapping me under him.
    “She’s fine, Brenna. Why don’t you wipe that scowl off your face, and tell your man good morning?” he asked with an amused look in his eyes.
    “I don’t have a man, and I need to go check on my girl.” I pushed at his shoulders, but it didn’t seem to faze him.
    “Oh, you don’t got a man, huh?”
    “No, I don’t. Get off me. I need coffee. Trix needs breakfast. Why don’t you head on home to your wife? She can tell you good morning,” I grumbled, still trying to wiggle out of his arms.
    He started laughing, a rumble that started deep in his belly. It was annoying as hell. This wasn’t funny, and I wanted to get the hell away from him.
    “Got no wife. That what you’re pissed about? Kendra?” he asked, still looking down at me like he thought this whole situation was hilarious.
    “Yeah, Kendra. I doubt she’d be real happy if she saw you lying on top of me with your hands all over me. Now, get off!”
    I shoved as hard as I