Wounded (In My Dreams) Read Free Page A

and he hadn’t saved me, he’d probably be sleeping on the ground in a park that night. I internally winced. Yeah, I’d be happy to have met me too.
    Not that I thought most people ever felt that way.
    Jasper set down his bag as I glanced over my kitchen table, covered in my crap. “The counter okay to eat at?”
    “Sure,” he chuckled as he helped me push aside even more of my shit, including the dead plants I’d tried so desperately to keep alive.
    “Yeah, apparently I don’t have much of an indoor green thumb. But I had a killer vegetable garden at my last place.”
    “Not here?”
    “No, not at all,” I snickered as I set the food down and pushed out a stool for him. “There’s only one spot on the side of the house where I could have one, and it’s downhill, and I’m not climbing all over the place to plant and pull off vegetables. Plus, it’s all crappy clay and it would take way more energy than I have to clear it out and put in real dirt, plants, besides weeds could grow in.”
    “I’d help. I love fresh vegetables.”
    I shot him a smile as I pulled out a couple of mugs for tea. “Be careful with those offers. I love fresh vegetables too so I’d totally take you up on that.”
    “I meant it.”
    “Cool. Thanks.” I opened the cabinet with all my teas and knelt down. “Tea would be good for your throat. Is there any kind you like in particular?” I went to glance at him again, and flinched when he squatted down next to me. He looked them over and raised an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, I’m kind of a tea whore. I like a lot a variety and I love trying new things so I always pick up something when I see it and don’t always finish it before I go get something else.”
    “Trying new things is good. I’ll trust your judgment. I don’t know what any of this is but I like tea.” He cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. Yeah, that much talking had to hurt.
    “Let’s start with Starbuck’s Refresh,” I suggested as I picked out two bags. “I find it helps whatever ails me. Your stomach has to be raw too given you probably haven’t had the most stable diet.”
    “No, not even close,” he agreed.
    I shrugged as I picked out another one of my favorites, raspberry hibiscus, and stood. “We’ll fix that. Do you have any special dietary needs? Anything you don’t like.”
    “I hate beans,” he offered as an answer as he sat down at the counter.
    “Me too. I’m allergic to coconut and lemongrass. I’m not sure lemongrass is ever in food, but coconut’s the new fad so it’s everywhere. Please don’t ever bring it in the house. It could kill me.”
    “Fair enough.”
    I closed the cabinet and grabbed him a bottle of water so he could start eating. He shouldn’t be drinking scalding tea after all. Then I heard some crunching of tacos as I made his tea, my back to him. When I was done and had both mugs with hot water and tea bags soaking, I turned around to see he’d finished off one whole variety pack of twelve tacos.
    “Well, I guess you’re a growing boy,” I joked, again wanting to smack myself at how stupid I sounded.
    “They were great, thanks.”
    “Do you want more?”
    He shook his head and pushed the full box towards the empty spot on the counter. “Those are yours.”
    “Jasper, I’m not really even hungry. And even at my hungriest, there’s no way I could ever eat more than four tacos. Normally I eat two,” I admitted. He blinked at me and I shrugged. “You had to be hungry. I figured you wouldn’t just let me get food for you, so I said I was too. Eat them all if you want so they don’t go to waste.”
    “You’re really sweet.”
    “No, I’m not,” I snickered as I sat down. He still didn’t touch the box so I sighed and pulled one out. “Here, I’m eating. Save me one more and the rest are yours.”
    “You are sweet.”
    “Okay, well don’t tell anyone that and snitch on me,” I drawled, shaking my head. I took a bite of my taco as he finally