Wounded (In My Dreams) Read Free Page B

started in on the other box. I didn’t think living on the streets was the only factor to his appetite. He was a big guy, six-three and about one ninety even malnourished. I would really need to feed him. “You’re not a vegetarian or anything are you? I grill out a lot in the summer and I don’t know how to make any vegetarian meals besides pancakes.”
    He chuckled deeply and held up the taco.
    “Right, I’m an idiot.”
    “Why do you keep asking me about food?” he hedged, studying me in that same way as if he saw too much, more than I’d want anyone to see at least.
    “It’s not because I’m fat,” I blurted, hating myself in that moment for being a moron. “I mean, it’s not like I’m addicted to food and that’s all I think of. I do more than eat. Most meals I actually forget. This is the first time I’ve actually sat down and eaten not at my computer in a while.” I nodded to the kitchen table. “That should prove it. I stand eating most of the time because it’s faster, and by the time I remember to eat, I’m starving.”
    He smirked at me, his eyes full of amusement. I took a deep breath and pulled my preverbal foot out of my mouth.
    “I’ve not lived with anyone since college,” I admitted with a half shrug. “And most of my visitors come from out of town. I guess I just defaulted to what I normally think of before my mom comes to visit. I go to the store and get food I know she’ll eat, her favorite creamer, her kind of milk, that sort of thing. That’s where my mind went. I don’t want to feed you crap you hate.”
    “I’m not a picky eater. I prefer meat.”
    “Me too.” I smiled at him until his eyes went wide. Oh god. I did not just make a sexual innuendo like a goober. “I’d grill burgers tonight but the gas needs to be replaced on the grill and that thing is heavy. I have to drag it all the way from the garage and through the house—”
    “I’ll do it. We can have whatever you want, Lily.”
    I nodded and took another bite of my taco, trying not to smile at how he said my name. God, I was hopeless.
    We finished eating, and Jasper cleaned up, waving me off when I tried to help. He found the garbage and even folded the boxes up for the recycling. I pointed to under the sink when he glanced at me. He stuffed them in there and then wet the washcloth in the sink before wiping the counter to make sure nothing was left.
    “Wow, you have better manners than I have,” I muttered as I stood. He chuckled from behind me as I went over to his bag. When I lifted it onto my shoulder, his hand rubbed against my arm as he was suddenly there and took it from me.
    A man that big shouldn’t be that quiet. Maybe he was part cat or something?
     

2
     
    Jasper followed me downstairs, carrying his two mugs of tea I’d forgotten about. I showed him the family room, the big bathroom, and then the guest room.
    “At least this room’s picked up. I don’t really use it.”
    “You act like you’re a slob,” he chuckled as he set the mugs on the nightstand.
    “I’ve been called that.” I shrugged and walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom. I closed the toilet lid and stepped up there so I could reach the shelf with the guest towels. When I turned around, he was standing there watching me. “I don’t keep towels hanging just to get dusty when I don’t have guests. Plus, the shower in the master bath sucks balls, so I shower down here. Sorry. I’ll try and stay out of your way.”
    “It’s your house,” he reminded me as he took the towels from me.
    “Not really. I rent.” I pulled back the shower curtain and winced at the four built-in shelves in two corners of the shower. “Okay, so I don’t have a lot of girly stuff, but yeah, I kinda take up residence everywhere. I’ll clear some of this out for your stuff.”
    “I don’t have any stuff.”
    “Right, yeah—sorry.”
    “No, this is great. I can’t tell you the last time I had a real shower. I clean up in gas