Every Night She Sleepwalked to Him—Until He Pretended No More Chapter 04

Every Night She Sleepwalked to Him—Until He Pretended No More Chapter 04

Back when I first moved in, I’d overheard Bennett on the phone with his dad. His dad asked if he was seeing anyone, and Bennett glanced right at me.

“No. Nobody.”

So he’d been single then. But these past two months, he’d been glued to his phone, always texting someone.

Now I knew who.

And if he had a girlfriend, me living here was a problem. Sooner or later he’d want to bring her home, and I did not want to be here for that.

His room shared a wall with mine, and the walls were thin. We also shared the only full bathroom; the one downstairs didn’t even have a shower.

So I texted my old realtor. [Hey, I’m looking to move again. Let me know if anything good opens up?]

She wrote back fast. [Wait, you’re giving up that townhouse?? That deal was insane.]

[Yeah, it’s just not working out. Time for a change.]

[Got it. I’ll flag anything promising and set up showings.]

[Perfect, thanks!]

I set my phone on the nightstand just as footsteps passed my door. Bennett, heading for the bathroom.

A second later, the shower kicked on.

Comments appeared. [That’s a COLD shower, folks.]

[Not gonna say why. You know why.]

[Girl got him all worked up and just left.]

[Eh, I don’t know. Maybe texting his online girlfriend got him going…]

[Hold on. Isn’t her silk slip still in there from her shower earlier?]

[Ugh, of course it is. Everything this girl does is bait. She left it on purpose.]

I winced.

They weren’t wrong; my slip was sitting in the bathroom hamper. My best friend had called mid-laundry and it slipped my mind completely.

It wasn’t a move. I swear.

My work clothes from that day were in there too. He probably… wouldn’t look, right?

The water had just started; maybe he wasn’t in yet. And the comments kept insisting I faked my episodes

anyway.

What if I “sleepwalked” in there and grabbed the nightgown? Honestly, it might work.

I crept down the hall to the bathroom door.

Through the door came Bennett’s voice, low and strained. “Baby, I miss you so much…”

I froze. So much for that plan.

I turned right back around.

An hour later, deep in sleep, some part of me registered the bathroom door opening. I tried to surface. I

couldn’t.

Then the dream came. Bennett easing my door open, sitting on the edge of my bed, watching me sleep.

His voice was tender in a way that made my skin crawl. “Baby, I’m not letting you leave me this time…”

The nightmare plagued me till dawn.

The comments woke me up. [Did she seriously dream she was Bennett’s girlfriend?]

[She’s SO into him.]

[Why else would her brain go there?]

[Right?? She even dreamed about him locking her up.]

(You dream about what you obsess over. Just saying.]

[Zero shame. Zero.]

[Camille needs to get here NOW. I can’t take this girl anymore.]

In the dream, the rope from my childhood was back, only this time it tied Bennett and me together. I was starving, and somehow he was the food.

And in that dark little room, tied to him, I felt safe. Like as long as he existed, I’d never be hungry again.

Bennett’s door was still shut, so I headed to the bathroom. The laundry hamper was empty.

In the laundry room, a sticky note was stuck to the dryer.

[Splashed the hamper by accident last night, so I ran your stuff through the wash. It’s in the dryer.]