In Her Dreams

says. “Jared’s really cool. He’s good at the game. He doesn’t swear or say gross things about girls like most of the other guys do.”
Jerrek rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. It was one way to do surveillance. Sandra suggested it.”
Joey looks up at him. “Surveillance?”
Reve gives Jerrek a panicked look.
“Hey,” Jerrek says, taking a knee to be eye level with Joey. “Look, I was kind of keeping an eye on your mom. For my friend here.”
Joey looks utterly confused. “Why?”
“Because when you care about someone a lot, sometimes you want to make sure they’re okay.”
Reve’s mouth is in a flat line as if he knows he has been caught stalking but has no excuse for it.
Joey nods at that. “So are you really my friend?”
“Yes,” Jerrek says. “And that’s my friend, Reve.”
“Your friend?”
“Yes.” Jerrek nods. “And I’ve known him since I was teeny tiny. And he told me to look out for the woman he loves.”
Joey shakes his head. “He can’t love her. He barely knows her.”
Jerrek pauses. “I guess it’s a bit complicated, huh? But you know, Reve knew your mom from a long time ago. Long before you were even born.”
“He did?” Joey looks between me and Reve, and I can only shrug.
Because Reve saw me before I was even born, so I guess what Jerrek is saying is true.
“Adults are weird,” Joey says.
“Totally,” Jerrek says, putting out his fist for a bump. “But some of us aren’t the worst, right? Now how about you go set up a co-op mission we can do? You’re the best gaming partner a guy could ever ask for.”
Seeing Joey’s face light up is everything. It makes my heart hurt that I couldn’t show him what a good man and friend is because I didn’t trust anyone to get close.
But I do trust Jerrek and Reve.
As soon as Joey runs off down the hall, Jerrek turns his attention to us, suddenly serious.
He grabs Reve by the arm and pulls him over to me to talk.
“Hey, there’s a car parked outside. I felt danger around the home, and my beacon went off. So I thought I’d check in on you guys.”
“We just woke up,” I say, my heart already starting to race.
Reve puts an arm around my waist. “No, it’s going to be fine. In fact, this is good that he showed up so soon. I can have a talk with him.”
“If it’s Mark, then no way,” I say, grabbing Reve by the arm as he tries to walk away. “He’s just—ignore him. He’s not worth your time. And he hasn’t hurt me, not since—”
Reve whirls on me then, and I’ve never seen his irises so bright, so green, as when it dawns on him—on me, on both of us—what I just said.
“It was only once,” I say, trying to grab Reve’s arm and pull him back again. “Back when I was pregnant. And when the baby kept us up and—”
Reve turns to me, and I let him go, shocked by the rage in his face.
“Please,” I say. “That’s years ago. In the past. I left him. All he does is whine and try to annoy me. He hasn’t even gotten close to hitting me again.”
Jerrek is like stone now, and Reve jerks away to head to the door.
“Shit,” Jerrek says. “I better stop him.”
But as Reve yanks the door open and heads out through it, he’s already pulling out something long and coiled and ominously dark from his robe.
He shakes it out to the side, and it drags behind him in a long, sharp-looking line about ten feet long.
He raises it above his head and brings it down, and a crack splits the air, making my hair stand on edge.
I see Mark’s white Pinto across the street, and the door opens and slams shut as Mark gets out, looking enraged.
“What the fuck is this?” Mark asks, crossing the street with a face red with fury and hands clenched. “You send some guy with a whip out to intimidate me? Bitch, I’ll show you.”
Mark reaches for something in his jeans just as he gets within range of Reve’s whip. With a flick of his arm, Reve sends his whip flying out and jerks it back, and Mark yelps as I see his gun go flying to the side.
When he turns to retrieve it, Reve’s whip cracks the air by Mark’s face, and I gasp as I see that there’s a slash across his cheek, freely bleeding.
Reve circles him now, not caring about the slush in the street or the fact that he’s in a bathrobe. He’s so focused on what he’s trying to do.
Which, apparently, is whip my ex senseless.
The whip cracks again and again, and I hear Mark yelp, both sides of his face bleeding. He brings up his hands, but Reve’s whip is relentless. Reve brings the whip all the way back and, with a savage snap, hits Mark’s arms, which are trying to guard his face.
He’s now bleeding there as well, even worse, and he falls to one knee, whining.
Reve simply walks forward.
“It’s okay,” Jerrek says, putting a hand gently on my shoulder. “Reve is excellent with punishment. He won’t lose himself.”
But then we’re both distracted as Reve hits Mark again and again, his whip stinging the air with loud cracks like someone setting off fireworks.
Mark crawls back, trying to defend his face and head as Reve hits him on his neck, his face, his arms, his hands.
Why on earth was Mark out here in just that tee shirt?
I almost feel sympathy for him, seeing him cringe back until he slips, lying on his back, whimpering as he tries to guard with his arms.
But it’s also nice to see him feel how I felt. Terrified and powerless and unsure what I had done wrong.
I didn’t mean to tell Reve that Mark had hit me. I just panicked about them running into each other so quickly.
But I can’t say I hate this outcome.
“He’s going too far,” Jerrek says,