Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
M icah
When Micah arrived at Cheyenne’s condo the next day, he felt a bit self-conscious. Nervous. Like a teenager picking up a pretty girl for a date. It was ridiculous. He hadn’t dated a lot of women, but he’d dated his fair share. It wasn’t like he was a newbie.
Deep down, he knew Cheyenne was different. The previous night, as he’d lain in bed, all he’d been able to think about was the way she teased, the way she laughed, the way she took a lock of her hair and twirled it when she was deep in thought. He felt like he already knew everything he needed to know about this woman.
He wanted her.
And it was a bad, bad time to want a woman. Right before he was about to start SEAL training. The whole thing utterly confused him. He didn’t know what to do. So he pushed all those thoughts out of his head and focused on the here and now.
Today would be chill. No big deal.
A jolt of adrenaline went through him at just the idea of being close to her this evening. She had mentioned line dancing, which he wasn’t good at, but he was pretty good at partner dancing. He couldn’t wait to hold her close and possibly get another shot at kissing her.
It wasn’t long after he knocked on her door that she flung it open. She wore a red tank top, black shorts, and tennis shoes. She must have noticed he was giving her the once-over, because she said, “What?”
“You look good.”
Her face lit up with a bright smile, and then she shyly put a finger to her lips. “Let’s go.”
“Hold up. Bring your swimsuit, and I’ll give you a surf lesson.”
She eyed the condo next door, and immediately he knew something had happened with Eli. He waited a moment, but she said nothing, just dashed back inside to grab her suit.
He helped her into the truck, and they took off. He rolled down his window and turned on the radio, changing it to a country music station. She seemed uptight.
“Are you gonna tell me what happened with Eli?” He took a turn onto the highway and headed toward Wilmington.
She shrugged and then turned to face him. Surprising him, she unbuckled her seat belt and moved to the middle seat, nudging his shoulder.
It made him smile to know that she wanted to sit right next to him. Plus, it gave him a chance to catch her scent and remember how good she smelled. He took a deep breath.
“Are you smelling me?”
He shrugged. “Of course I am. You smell good.”
She blushed, and he liked it.
“So what happened with Eli?”
She shook her head. “Apparently he was watching when you dropped me off. After you left, he banged on the door and tried to confront me. I just reiterated that we were over.”
Micah didn’t like how this whole situation seemed to be escalating. “I do find it interesting that he ended up next to you in the same condos. Do you think something weird is going on?”
She looked surprised, and then she frowned. “Well, he did stalk me for a while after I told him I wouldn’t marry him. But my brothers had a conversation with him and then we were fine.”
He couldn’t help but bark out a loud laugh. “Your brothers are my kind of people.”
She gave Micah a precarious smile. “Our families are cut from the same type of cloth; that’s for sure. Maybe that’s why we get along.”
Adrenaline spiked through him. He wanted to evaluate that statement, but he really didn’t want to dig too much into this whole relationship thing. Maybe he would just enjoy this week and not think too hard about it. Each of them knew where the other one stood. Right?
Casually, he reached over and took her hand in his. “So I did have a crazy dream last night.”
She gently smacked his shoulder. “Saint Catherine haunted you?”
He grunted. Then he couldn’t help but laugh. “I had this dream that I was getting married.”
She stiffened.
“Don’t read into that,” he said quickly. “You know how crazy dreams are. Anyway, I had this dream that I was getting married, but I couldn’t see the face of the person I was marrying. All I could see was the amulet around her neck.”
She glanced at him, wide-eyed. “Freaky.”
Micah nodded. “It was, especially because it flashed to a zombie face that was all wrapped up and everything, and then zombies were chasing me. So take that for what it is. But I haven’t had a zombie dream in a long time, and that one took me by surprise.”
“So you have zombie dreams? Interesting. I do wonder what that means.” She tapped her chin in thought. “I took a psychology class last year, and we learned that dreams do have meaning. I have a recurring dream where my teeth fall out.”
He made a face in disgust. “What does that mean?”
She poked him. “Rude. You wouldn’t stay with me if my teeth fell out?”
Micah liked that she was thinking about them being together, because he was pretty much consumed by it. “How many teeth do you lose, exactly?”
She shoved his shoulder. “Just so you know,” she said with a bit of feistiness in her tone, “that kind of dream means you are striving to succeed at something. It’s a common dream.” She pulled her phone out and tapped away. “Let’s see what a zombie dream means.”
Micah stayed quiet, his focus on the road, while she searched.
A minute later, she said, “It could mean one, fear of losing control; two, feeling overwhelmed; three, change or transformation; four, fear of loss; or five, unresolved emotions.”
He laughed; she sounded like an encyclopedia.
She gave him a knowing look. “That makes sense. You’re about to become a SEAL. Maybe you’re feeling all of these?”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s just about becoming a SEAL. Definitely not about this girl who’s just come into my life or anything.”
“Oh.” She paused as if realizing that for the first time. “I guess.”
There was an awkward silence.
Micah took her hand again and squeezed. “We’re just working through this one day at a time. Right? And the next thing we have to focus on is breaking back into that crypt. So let’s focus on that first.”
She smiled. “Deal.”
They arrived at the church and decided to park on the side closer to the cemetery. “I think we should try to go through the grave and not through the church,” Micah said. “That priest might remember us.”
Cheyenne nodded. “Good idea.” She linked her hand with his as they walked toward the cemetery.
He kept his voice low. “I think I can move the lid on that grave and we can sneak back in.”
“I like it. It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here. Should we just make a dash for that grave?”
He nodded, and they ran toward it.
When they got to the grave, Micah started pushing it. Cheyenne helped him, and before long, they had the entrance cracked open.
He looked down into the darkness, buzzing with anticipation. “I’ll go down there and put it back. You wait here and be the lookout.”
Her face scrunched up. “I’m not letting you do this by yourself.”
He shook his head and started to climb down. “We don’t need two people to do this. You stay.”
She balked but backed down. “Fine.”