Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 2.2 - Head Shy Read Online Free PDF Page A

but… no. He's just right. He's not fully conscious, but he's at the place where he could go either way, struggle towards consciousness or drift back into warm, comfortable sleep. He barely knows where he is, but he's somehow aware that he doesn't need to get up early today, and he lets himself drift.
    A while later, there's movement in the blankets around his head, and he tries to burrow in deeper. He hears a low, rumbling noise that some part of his brain identifies as Jeff's chuckle, and he grabs hold of a handful of blanket, pulling it up over his face, over his ears. But there's resistance, something pulling on the covers, and he bats at whatever it is with his other hand, eyes still closed. "G'waaay."
There's a voice now. Evan. The morning-bastard himself. "I don't get it. Six days a week, he's at work by dawn. On the seventh day…."
    "And on the seventh day, he rested." That's Jeff, and at least he seems to understand, and Dan nudges over a little in that direction, hoping to be saved from Evan. But there's no sanctuary to be found. "No, sweetheart, wake up… we've got breakfast almost made."
    Dan briefly considers that. If only there was some way to eat and sleep at the same time. But there isn't, so he pulls the covers back up. "I'mmm 'sleep," he mumbles.
The covers are pulled back again, and Dan actually bounces a little

Head Shy | Kate Sherwood
    as some heavy weight flops down on the bed beside him. There's the tickle of breath on his face. "No, dude, you're talking. And as cute as it is when you talk in your sleep, I've noticed that you never actually claim to be asleep. Not when you actually are asleep. When you're actually asleep, you seem to think that you're awake." Evan pauses, thank Christ, but the peace doesn't last for long. "And you tend to be strangely obsessed with rain. When you're sleep talking. But you're not talking about rain now… hence, my conclusion is that you're awake."
    Dan groans. "It's raining. Fuck off." There's no response, no motion… nothing. Dan cautiously opens one eye, and almost jerks his head back when his entire field of vision is filled with Evan's enormous, blurry face.
    "And your eye opened!" Evan crows. "You don't sleep look , that's for sure!" He moves the fraction of an inch that's required to give Dan a boisterous kiss. "Morning, Dan!"
    Dan can't properly verbalize his disgust at this development. "Mwaarghhh," he tries, and he rolls right over to face the opposite direction. Jeff's direction. Dan feels Jeff's fingers tickling in his hair, and that's nice, that's lovely to fall back asleep with, but Jeff's rubbing too hard, it's stimulating, not soothing, and Jeff knows better than that… Dan swipes at Jeff's hand, tries to get rid of it, but there's just another chuckle, and then the bed shifts as Jeff leans away, and then back again. Dan's nose gives him the first good news he's had all day. "C'ffee?"
    "Open your eyes, and you can have it." Jeff's a tough negotiator. Dan thinks about stonewalling, but he knows they're not going to give up, and… coffee. He opens one eye to be sure it's not a trick, and there Jeff is, holding a mug of something cautiously away from the bed, as if he's afraid Dan might make a grab and spill it. Jeff's a tough negotiator with good sense. Dan opens his other eye, and Jeff makes an encouraging face at

Head Shy | Kate Sherwood
    him. "Okay, now sit up so you don't pour it all over yourself." Jeff half rises off the bed to cushion the mug from any tilting, and Dan reluctantly slides up to the headboard, dragging as many covers as he can with him. Jeff smiles as he hands the mug over, but Dan's mouth can't really smile back yet; it's still too sleepy. He brings the coffee to his lips and takes a cautious sip, and then a deeper swallow.
"What time is it?" His voice sounds a bit grumbly, still, but at least he's not swearing at them, so they're getting off easy.
    "It's past ten, dude. We need to be out of here before eleven if we want to make