Page 7 of Royal

I loved and supported her no matter what. Even if she was a little out there.

“Nothing,” she said, and I could imagine her waving her hand in dismissal on the other end of the phone. “It’s nothing.”

“Tell me.” Even if I was skeptical about it all, I liked for her to talk to me. It helped her feel better.

“I dreamed you were in a room. Maybe a basement, but I’m not certain,” she said, and her voice started to shake again. “It was dark, and you had your gun drawn. I didn’t see much else, but Ifeltsomething. A sense of dread. And then I woke up.”

Once down to my boxer-briefs, I walked into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush. “Well, I’m fine, Aunt Abby. I have no intention of going into a basement any time soon, okay?”

“Okay.” She sounded as exhausted as I felt. “Just be careful, Grayson.”

“Always am.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too,” I said and disconnected the call.

Saying those words was damn hard for me. Even to her, who was more like a mom to me than an aunt. Not sure who was to blame for that. My real mom for walking out on me when I was a baby. My dad for being a no-good drunk and “toughening me up” by beating the crap out of me every time he thought I was too sensitive. Or maybe they had nothing to do with it, and it was just my own internal shit I had to learn to work through.

I brushed my teeth before collapsing in bed. Although I was dog tired, my mind refused to turn off. I thought of Trevon sitting in jail. Of how scared he probably was. I thought of Aunt Abby’s dream.

And finally, I thought of Royal.

Nowhewas something I tried not to let my mind dwell on. Yet, in the dead of night, when I was tired and maybe a little vulnerable, he was exactly where my mind traveled to. I remembered how warm he’d been in my arms and how he’d liked when I kissed him behind his ear.

My fear had pushed him away.