Page 163 of I Dreamt That You Loved Me

“Take a nap with me,” he said, rolling onto his side and propping his head on his hand.

He gave me a drowsy smile that was so adorable and boyish that I was tempted to crawl into bed with him, if only to watch him sleep. I could so easily fit my body into the curve of his, with my back resting against his hard chest and his arm curled around me.

Skin against skin, his face buried in my hair, and our hearts doing a drunken tango across the room.

Before I met Gabriel, I used to prefer sleeping alone. After he left, it was one of the things I’d missed the most.

Hearing him say, sweet dreams, as I drifted off. Falling asleep in his arms. Waking up to the sound of his voice, to the smile on his lips, and to that deep contentment that comes with knowing you are loved. You are cherished. You are safe.

I backed away toward the door before I got too carried away and accidentally fell into bed with him. “I just woke up.”

He pressed his face into my pillow. “Mmm. Smells like you.”

“I’ll see you later.”

As I closed the door behind me it dawned on me that now my freshly washed sheets would smell likehim. And that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t be so quick to throw them in the washing machine next time.

I leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths.

God. What was this fresh hell?

My mom and Sean stopped by later that evening.

I saw their car pulling into the driveway from the upstairs window as I was getting dressed. If memory served, these were the same hip-hugger bell-bottoms I wore to Monks the night I told Gabriel I wanted to be with him.

Too bad I didn’t have that cowgirl riding a tiger T-shirt anymore.

My hands were shaky as I applied a few coats of mascara in the bathroom mirror. I was almost as nervous as I’d been that night but this time, I was nervousforGabriel. I had no idea what their set list would be or what the rest of his new music sounded like.

According to Maya, who I’d hung out with at the pool today while Gabriel was sleepingin my bed, the tickets had all sold out. But the bar only held two hundred, so it wasn’t like he was playing in a stadium. And Gabriel seemed really chilled out about the whole thing.

But still. It felt like a big deal.

I stuffed some cash and my ID into my pocket and went downstairs.

“Listen to me,” Sean was saying as I greeted my mom with a hug and slid into the seat next to her. Gabriel was leaning against the railing, smoking a cigarette, looking as cool as you like in the shirt I made for him.

He gave me a sexy smile while Sean continued talking.

“If Barry gives you any more shit about your new music, just let me deal with it.”

“Why would he give Gabriel shit?” Dev said, ambling onto the deck. It must have beenShow Cleo Some Lovenight. Devin was wearing the T-shirt I’d made for him with Phillipe Petit tightrope walking between the Twin Towers. “His new stuff is fucking incredible. He’s gonna blow them away tonight.”

Eddie nodded in agreement. “It all came together. It’s pretty tight.”

My gaze swung to Sean. He looked more stressed than a man who had just returned from a vacation should look.

I gave my mom the side-eye. She shook her head with a sigh and lowered her voice. “Sean just got off the phone with Barry after Gabriel got angry and hung up on him.”

“What did Barry say to you?” I asked Gabriel, all ready to fight for him. I’d never met the guy, but I didn’t like the sound of him. “He’s such an asshole. Who is he to hassle you?”

Gabriel smiled. “I love it when you get all feisty.”

“What did he say?” I prodded.

Sean said, “He wants assurance that this album is going to fit the current market and that it will be similar to, yet ‘transcend’ his last three albums.”

Gabriel crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. “He wants to produce the album. He insisted on it. Allegedly, the record company is all for it. Fuck that. I told him no way in hell would I ever let him anywhere near my music. I’ve heard his stuff. It’s all overproduced. It sounds sterile and artificial. There’s no rawness or musicality or dynamic range whatsoever. I don’t even want him in that bar tonight.”