Page 99 of In Somnis

That’s weird.

My stomach drops just as the kitchen shudders like the world exhaled too hard…

… The colors deepen, and the air feels heavier, denser, as if I’ve snapped into a higher resolution.

“This is a dream,” I whisper, eyes still fixed on my breadstick fingers.

“Good job,” Ridge praises in a low tone. “Now breathe and stay with me.”

Easier said than done. The space around me ripples and feels unstable.

I’m awake in a dream. This is a dream.

And he is a stranger.

“How do you know my name?” I ask.

“How do you know mine?” He shoots back. “We introduced ourselves.”

“That’s not…” I start to say, because I’m very sure I did not tell him my name last time.

“Hey, hey,” Ridge soothes as my breathing becomes erratic. “Relax.”

“I can’t.” I reach out and cling to his hand without thinking. “Help me.”

He frowns, then interlocks our fingers. “Don’t get excited, you’re fine. Inhale. Now exhale. Okay?”

The kitchen ripples in response as if it heard him and disagrees.

I close my eyes and try to breathe more slowly. “Distract me from the fact that we’re in a goddamn dream.”

A loud crack makes me open my eyes, and I look up to find a split in the ceiling. Plaster spiderwebs outward, bits of it breaking loose and showering down around us. I flinch, instinctively ducking closer to Ridge.

Ridge doesn’t react at all. His gaze is fixed on Nevan, who is still standing a few steps away, completely still like a paused video.

“Who’s that?”

“That’s… Nevan.” My neck heats remembering what I was just caught doing.

Oh God. I made out with him in front of Ridge.

Did he see me kiss Paul too?

The embarrassment hits first, then immediately curdles into something worse when I remember that I’d tried to kiss Ridge seconds after I was done with Nevan. And he stopped me.

My fingers twitch, instinctively trying to pull away from his hand, but Ridge tightens his grip enough to trap me.

“Wait,” he says slowly. “The Shaw boy?”

“You know him?”

Can this get any more embarrassing?

“Haven’t seen that one in years.” His mouth quirks as his gaze flicks between Nevan and me. “Got yourself a boy toy?”

“What? No!”

His brow lifts, unimpressed. “But you want to.”