“Let’s do it.” Without waiting on him to strip the rest of the way, I popped to my feet and took off running so I could dive into the cool evening water.

I was having a good delicious dream about Knox moving inside me, hitting a spot that had me right on the edge, when someone crawled into bed with me, jerking me awake.

I gasped, embarrassed and...well, mostly just embarrassed out of my freaking mind. It skeeved me out to be having a sex dream while a ten-year-old was seeking me for comfort after a nightmare. But damn, after almost reaching an orgasm with Knox at the club, I was left so hot and bothered I couldn’t even be that mad at him for abandoning me afterward.

I mean, okay, yes, I was upset. Pissed, really. But at least now I knew he still cared for me, he still wanted me, he still missed me. His inability to deny his love for me told me everything I needed to know. He was holding himself back for some oddball reason I wasn’t yet aware of, but as soon as I figured out what that aggravating reason was, I was going to crush it under my feet and make it a total non-issue so he’d never feel the need to push me away again.

But first, I had to deal with Colton Gamble. This was the third night in a row he’d sought me after a nightmare. The first two times, I hadn’t asked him anything after I’d gotten it out of him that he’d had a bad dream and just wanted company. I’d let it go and allowed him to stay the rest of the night. When I’d asked Aspen about it, she’d said he used to do that to Caroline, his sister, when she’d lived here.

Tonight, however, I was ready for him...well, as soon as I cooled my jets and stopped thinking of Knox’s cock inside me.

“Another bad dream?” I asked after a minute, acting as if I were just then waking up.

He cuddled in closer to me, trembling. “Yeah.”

“Poor boy.” I smoothed his sweat-damp hair off his forehead. “I hate having nightmares. I used to dream that I showed up to school in nothing but my underwear and everyone laughed and pointed, and no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find any clothes to wear.”

Colton giggled; his muscles relaxed.

“What was your dream about?” When he didn’t answer, I guessed. “It was about zombies, wasn’t it?”

Zombie games were our thing. Whenever I came to visit—before I actually lived with the Gambles—we usually played some version of a zombie game on one of his gaming systems. Or we were known to watch the show iZombie together. He was slightly obsessed with them. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the undead were haunting his dreams.

“No,” he mumbled, though. “It was about my mom.”

I wasn’t expecting this answer. The only thing Aspen had ever told me about his mom was that she’d been neglectful and hadn’t taken care of any of her kids, so Noel had scooped up his three siblings and moved them in with him.

“What about her?” I asked, kissing his forehead as I continued to pet his hair.

“She came and took me away,” he said, burrowing close. “Every time I dream, she always drags me back with her, and I never see Brandt or Aspen or Noel or Caroline again.”

I swallowed, wincing, because it hurt to hear a child was actually afraid of being with his mother. What the hell had she done to him?

Ignoring the growing rage, I said, “You know you don’t have to worry about that, right? Noel and Aspen have legal custody of you now. Your mom couldn’t take you, even if she wanted too.”

“I know,” he mumbled. “But I can’t stop dreaming about it.”

“Well, let’s figure this out. If your mom ever did come for you and try to steal you back, what would you do?”

He went tense. I rubbed his hair some more.

“How about this idea? I’ve seen you take a hoe after a zombie, and boy, you’re wicked awesome with a hoe, let me tell you. How about you threaten her with a hoe and tell her you’re not going anywhere with her, or she gets the zombie death chop?”

He giggled. “Or a lawn-mower haircut.”

“Heck, yeah. You’re deadly with those too.”

We went through a few more scenarios of how he could stand up for himself and refuse to go anywhere with his mother. And after we talked it though, I nudged his arm. “Hey, I have a surprise for you.”

“Really?” His voice perked to attention. “What?”

“I can’t tell you. You have to find it for yourself, but I hid it in this room and you can only find it in the dark, because I put a glow-in-the-dark sticker on it.”

Colton immediately popped out of bed and started searching.