Read Online Death Knows My Name (Memory Keepers) by Casse Narome - Free Book Online Page B

it would hurt him too much.
    My heart squeezed at the idea of causing him any pain. The thought of him in pain made me want to punch something or anyone that caused that pain. Yeah, I had it bad.
    Sleeping in his arms last night hadn’t helped my infatuation. It had been too long since I had slept next to someone. Solid and warm man pressed at my back. And the dreams. When was the last time I had dreamed, I couldn’t remember. Long enough to have had forgotten what it felt like. Until last night. If Eric brought me dreams, maybe he was worth trying to see where this would lead.
    I took a shower, reluctantly. I hated to wash his smell off, and I was aware of how pathetic that made me. I didn’t want to wash away the memories of his touch on my skin. I knew I could never let it go any further, but I still wanted to keep how it had felt to have someone beside me forever in my mind. How it felt to sleep and dream. The vividness of the dreams I’d experienced stuck with me. They were silly little things, but I treasured them. I had a break from the remembrances that normally plagued my sleep.
    I dressed quickly and made my way to the coffee shop. I promised Devon I would come in to help with this quarter’s books. My hair was piled on top of my head in a loose and sloppy bun and I could already feel rogue curls springing free. It was a dry, crisp day and leaves crunched under my booted feet that matched my gray sweater perfectly. I loved fall. The clothes were much cuter than summer’s semi-nude look. I tugged my scarf a little tighter around my neck and snuggled my chin deeper into it to keep the bite of the cold from my face.
    I opened the door and greeted some regular customers. One figure stood out to me. Michael. I half sighed and half groaned then I headed over to him.
    “So I suppose I owe you an apology.”
    He cocked his head at me. “Do you?”
    “I am aware I may have come off as rude last night.” I sat down across from him without an invitation.
    “People usually do when they are being rude.” He returned to his scribbled-on leaf of paper.
    I laughed. “Okay. I tried.” I stood up and went to find Devon. It’s not like I was extremely rude to the guy. It wasn’t even me who invited him with us. I shrugged and let myself into Devon’s office. It took him a few seconds to finally look up from his work. I took a seat across from him.
    “How was it?” he asked me with a dopey grin on his face.
    I fought to hold in my telling smile. “Nothing really happened,” I said with a shrug.
    “Yeah, because when I ‘nothing’ with a girl she always ends up in nothing but my T-shirt, too,” he finished with a smirk.
    “I mean it was a good nothing. I really am not comfortable talking about this with you, Devon.” I tried not to blush.
    “Since when? Wait, you must like this guy!” I banged my head down on his desk with a dramatic groan as he continued. “Who is this guy? Is he the guy from the lounge?”
    “No,” I said from the desk. “I am pretty sure that guy hates my guts and my outsides as well. You don’t know him. Hell, I don’t know the guy.”
    “Sit up,” he snapped. I obeyed, and he looked into my eyes, concern darkening his. “Tell me he is not bad news.”
    I put my head back on the desk face down. “The worst.”
    I was walking home. It was late and dark. Even though it still made me edgy, I had grown less afraid of the dark since meeting Eric, so I no longer minded being held up late at work. It was a comfort knowing what was most likely the worst thing lurking in the dark and wanting to share your bed with him.
    “Oh, Eric is not the worst of us who lurk out here.”
    I froze. The voice came from the shadows that surrounded me. Should I even bother to run? Would it even matter?
    “Absolutely not.” His voice held a cocky confidence.
    For a weak moment, I thought about calling out to Eric and praying he’d hear me. The moment passed, and the feeling of weakness pissed me