Free Falling

We Could Be

When Denitra finally regained consciousness, it didn't come quietly. Even though her eyes were clamped shut, she knew the sun was up and probably had been for a while. Her head pounded, and she resisted the urge to pull her pillow over her head. She deserved a killer hangover after last night. She'd been so relieved that Jamien had left her alone after telling her he thought they could make a relationship work.

A relationship.

Him and her.

Her insides tingled at the thought and she struggled to make it go away. Any other time, she'd allow herself to hope, to fantasize about the possibilities. But not this time, not when she'd seen with her own eyes how he'd lost focus when it mattered the most. He may like to play a superhero, but he was as human as she was. She was honestly afraid that he would get seriously hurt just attempting to allow himself to get close to her.

"How's your head?"

She groaned automatically and caved in, seeking shelter under the cool darkness of her pillow. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Yeah. Enough to be functional."

"Lucky bastard."

She felt his chuckle shake the bed a bit. "You should have another shot of tequila. It helps to bite the snake that bit you."

"I shouldn't have drunk that much in the first place."

He gave a small shrug. "It seemed like you were trying to take your mind off of something. Challenging people to take shots is certainly one way to do it."

She took a peek out from under the pillow. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with a pensive look. "There's a thousand and one different reasons a person drinks that much, Jay."

He raised an eyebrow as a ghost of a smile curved his lips. "Yeah, but it's different when you actually tell me why you drank so much."

"I did?"

He nodded, his smile exploding into a full grin. "Apparently what I said to you bothers you a little bit."

She felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "Oh, jeez. I-I was drunk and... It was a lot to take in and think about and I didn't really..." She stopped herself and took a deep breath, determined to switch gears and move on. "Anyway, did you get any sleep?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I did." There wasn't a hair out of place on his head, so Denitra immediately suspected he could have been lying. "But I had trouble sleeping, had a lot on my mind. I wanted to be awake when you woke up so I could talk to you."

"About what?" She sat up, half turned towards him.

The look he gave her made her instantly regret opening the floor for him. "You know damn well what about."

"Jay, don't do this." She turned away, intent on running to the bathroom for solace, but his hand caught her arm and anchored her to the bed.

"If I can't 'do this' now, when would you prefer I do it?"

She licked her dry lips, swallowed hard, then whispered, "Never."

His chuckle held very little humor. "Like hell, woman." He yanked her down hard to his side and held her to him by her waist. He allowed her to struggle until she got tired then loosened his hold. She had a snowball's chance in hell of being able to resist him and his crazy ideas like this.

"Jamien, please, let me up." She squirmed a bit more. "This is uncomfortable and I really need to use the bathroom."

"Tough shit. I have something I've been practicing saying since I dumped your ass in this bed. You're gonna hear me out. Understand?"