Page 162 of I Dreamt That You Loved Me

“It was empty, so I slept there. Can I get through now?” He gave me an annoyed look and gestured for me to stop blocking the door.

I stepped aside so he could use the bathroom then went downstairs and made a pot of coffee. After I ate my breakfast on the deck, I went back inside and prepared a tray for Gabriel.Someonehad to feed him.

Since he didn’t have an actual tray, I carried his breakfast out to the studio in an orange ceramic roasting dish that looked suspiciously like the Le Creuset my mother used to own.

The music stopped as soon as I opened the door.

“What’s this?” he asked, setting down his guitar and taking the makeshift tray out of my hands.

“A Thanksgiving turkey. What does it look like?”

“Love. This looks like looooove,” he said in a sexy scream, dragging out the syllables for so long that it was clear his underwater swimming had paid off in the breath control department.

I shook my head. “Are you still high?”

“On life. I was in the flow state. I didn’t even realize it was morning until just now,” he laughed, setting his breakfast on the floor and sliding down the wall like he suddenly realized how tired he was and needed the support. With a contented sigh, hekicked out his legs and patted the spot next to him. “Come sit with me.”

I hovered in the doorway. I wasn’t planning to stay, but my traitorous feet carried me to his side, and I sat next to him.

He looked terrible, with purple shadows under his eyes and his hair all messy and disheveled. But I thought he looked beautiful. A burst of sunlight burned through the morning fog and lit up his face. Gabriel, the fallen angel.

The light was particularly beautiful in Montauk. Dreamy. Luminous. I could see why Gabriel loved this place so much. It was unpretentious, wilder, romantic. Perfect for seekers and free spirits like him.

He was still dressed in last night’s clothes—army green cargo shorts with frayed hems and a faded black T-shirt with a samurai cat on it.

I bought that T-shirt for him when we were in Tokyo. He’d gotten such a kick out of it that he wore it for every show in Japan and Australia. He called it his Lucky Cleo the Cat T-shirt and said I would have made a great samurai warrior.

No idea why he’d ever thought that when I couldn’t even fend off a knife-wielding junkie. But he’d always given me more credit than I deserved.

“You need to sleep,” I said.

“I need coffee.” He lifted the speckled blue mug to his lips and drank.

I stared at this throat as it bobbed on a swallow. I wanted to sink my teeth into it and leave my mark.Mine.

When he caught me staring, I quickly averted my head and chipped off the last of the indigo polish on my thumbnail.

“Thank you,” he said with a big, genuine smile that made his whole face light up.

“You’re welcome.” I drew my knees to my chest. He really needed to put a sofa in here. “So…did you finish the song?”

“Mmhmm.” He gave me a secretive smile. “You’ll hear it tonight.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I was available to listen right this minute, but he popped a piece of melon into it, effectively shutting me up. After the second time he fed me, I held up my hand to stop him. “I already ate. This is for you.”

After he finished every bite and drank his coffee, he stretched his arms over his head and yawned. Then he couldn’t stop yawning.

I stood. “You need to sleep. Eddie’s in your bed so you can have mine.”

“You really worry about me, don’t you?” he asked as we walked to the house. “You still care about me.”

He sounded surprised, like this was a new revelation, and he couldn’t imagine why I would. But how could I not? When the love of your life leaves you, all that love doesn’t just magically disappear.

I shrugged. “You need to be rested for your show tonight, that’s all.”

While Gabriel was in the bathroom, I tidied up my bedroom and packed my tote bag for the day, ready to head out.

As soon as he walked into the room, he shed his T-shirt and jeans and tossed them on the floor then dove onto the bed. He was wearing dark blue boxers with little palm trees on them.