While I Was Away(54)

“Because my place has me in it,” she said. “And right now, it also has you in it.”

Ocean didn't know if he'd be in L.A. next week or not, didn't even know what he wanted in life anymore. He'd spent the last couple months chasing after his sister; he'd lost himself somewhere along the way.

Maybe he'd find himself in Zoey Blanke.

He was kissing her before he even thought about doing it. He dropped his glass and speared his hands into her hair. She was so much smaller than him, he had to lean down to meet her even as she stood on her tiptoes. He fell into her, causing them to stumble up against the window sills behind them.

“Jesus, I thought you'd never do that,” she moaned when he started kissing along her jaw.

“What, and you couldn't make the first move?” he asked, fighting and yanking at the zipper down the back of her dress.

“Your life is too easy,” she laughed, making quick work of unbuttoning his shirt. “I wanted to make you work for something.”

Her dress pooled at her feet and his shirt fluttered to the ground. He wanted to slow down, wanted to stand back and admire her amazing body and her beautiful face. But he was also worried that if they did slow down, he'd realize exactly what he was doing and with whom, and then his stupid brain would overthink things and ruin them.

He couldn't let that happen.

Ocean's pants hit the floor at the same time Zoey wrapped her legs around his waist. He stepped out of the jeans as he carried her across the room, her biting along the edge of his shoulder the whole way. When they got to the bed, he laid them down and kissed his way across her chest.

“God, this is a bad idea,” he groaned.

“What are you talking about? This is the best idea,” she teased, scratching her nails across his shoulder blades.

“I'm probably leaving, you're my sister's best friend. I don't want to fuck things up between you,” he explained, leaning away from her and toying with the front clasp on her bra.

“Ocean,” she said his name loudly. “First of all, Adele and I are better friends than that – she's an adult, I'm an adult, and I don't expect anything beyond this night other than what's happening right now. And second of all, it really freaks me the fuck out that you're thinking of your sister at a time like this, so either shut up and get to work, or get out.”

One flick of his fingers and the bra cups fell away from her breasts.

And as he lost himself in the smell of her skin and the sound of her moans and the taste of her mouth, Ocean couldn't help but feel like he'd also found something incredibly special.





27




When August was just arriving on a plane at LAX and Ocean was still trying to figure out whether or not he should text Zoey about the goodbye party, Adele was sitting at the small kitchen table in Jones' cabin, caught somewhere between elation and depression.

Jones was sitting across from her, and he was listening to her, and he existed in real life – elation. But he wasn't exactly the same man she remembered from her dreams, and he wasn't exactly head over heels in love with her, while she was still very much in love with him – depression.

“So you dreamt that we spent a lot of time in a poppy field,” Jones went over the things she'd told him about her coma dreams. “I've never even seen a poppy in real life. I certainly didn't talk about them with you.”

“No,” she shook her head. “No, I think the poppy field was from a favorite movie.”

“Like the castle.”

“Yeah. I was always really into Cinderella,” she chuckled, toying with the water bottle sitting in front of her. “But I've never been in a diner like your place, and I've never been to this cabin before, so those have to be from you.”

“This is amazing, Adele,” he said, leaning forward so he could rest his arms on the table. “You actually heard me. Heard me so well, you dreamed about the things I was telling you. And you can even remember them. I've never heard of something like this happening before.”

“But I still don't understand some things,” she said. “Like how did I know what you look like? I mean, I recognized you immediately at the hospital, you look exactly like you did in my dreams.”

“I checked your eyes daily, and you also opened them yourself several times. Who knows what the brain is capable of seeing and recording while you're in a coma,” he offered. She nodded.

“So basically my eyes saw you and my subconscious remembered the image – but my conscious brain didn't remember from where,” she tried to simplify it.

“Sort of, or definitely something like that. It's the only thing that makes sense.”

Yeah, or we're soulmates, and we found each other in my dream, and just realize you're in love with me already!

“I can't believe it. You must have talked to me about ... everything,” she sighed. “And I was just ... listening. Listening and dreaming, picking and choosing what to retain.”

“Sounds like it. It's really incredible. And this may sound kinda weird, but I have to tell you something. I didn't want to say anything after everything that happened at the hospital,” he started, rubbing at his neck sheepishly. “But when I saw you at the nurse's station, when you fainted, I had the same feeling.”