The Other Side of Anne by Kelly Stuart

Yeah, this nosebleed could be a regular one, or it might signal something much worse.
    Anne’s mouth thinned with displeasure . “I will call Benjamin.”
     
    **
     
    Ten minutes later, Avery flopped onto the couch with Anne. “What should we do while we wait?” he asked. It turned out that before Anne could call, Benjamin called Avery and wanted to send someone to stay in the house with them. Avery had tussled a bit to put up a show. At least he did not have to divulge the nosebleeds. Bottom line: Nate, driving a snow removal truck, would arrive at the front door in about an hour.
    Earlier, Avery had rummaged through the board games to find something he could play with Anne. So many board and card games, so little use. Monopoly, Yahtzee, Skip Bo, Phase 10, Sequence, Uno, Hollywood Squares, Upwords, Monopoly, Clue, Racko and Loaded Questions.
    Avery wanted no part of board and card games. He kept replaying the nosebleed. What if his life was slipping like sand through his fingers, and he did nothing about it? He tried thinking about Mandy—her ghost of a smile every time she beat him at poker. Her tongue with his. He imagined his tongue with Anne’s, and his body reacted. A good fuck was what he needed. A good, uncomplicated fuck. Oh well. Wouldn’t happen with Anne.
     
    **
     
    Nate wore a heavy gray coat, blue jeans and a sweater. He brought a briefcase and a traveling bag. “Ma’am,” he said to Anne. “Dr. Franklin,” he directed to Avery.
    Anne mustered a tight smile. Seeing Nate in anything but the Pegasus uniform was unsettling. Wolf in sheep’s clothing.
    Anne’s head hurt. She felt like an imbecile. She had worried about her own health, her own safety, the past few days. She had not considered that Avery could be in danger as well. With Avery being Time Traveler Zero, Anne really had no business taking him to 1536. She had made a grave, rash decision in the movie theater. What if it cost Avery and Anne their lives?
    Nate shrugged out of his coat and draped it over a chair. “Looks like a bad one, huh?”
    “Yes,” Avery said.
    “I’ll get out of your way. I brought a bunch of novels, a bunch of other stuff to keep me busy. I have an iPad. Just tell me where to set up.”
    “You can use my office. It has a comfortable chair.” Avery showed Nate to his office and brought him a Coke can.
    “Well,” Avery said when he returned to the living room. “So far, not bad.”
    “If Pegasus has not planted bugs or cameras yet, Nate will while he is here,” Anne pointed out.
    Avery frowned. “Well. Ah.”
    “You did not realize that?”
    T he beginnings of a smile tipped Avery’s lips. “I’m not as smart as I look.”
     
    **
     
    At several points during the afternoon, Avery was tempted to call Benjamin and ask if he’d experienced nosebleeds. Or if Avery’s parents had. They traveled to 1901 Victorian London. Time travel must have some physical after-effects. At some point, probably better sooner rather than later, Benjamin needed to know about the nosebleeds.
    “Do you know about my parents’ honeymoon in London?” Avery asked Anne during dinner. Nate was eating by himself in the office.
    “Your mother told me a little about it.”
    “What did she say? Did she mention if she or my dad got nosebleeds?”
    “ She did not mention it, Sir Franklin.” Anne sighed and finished her corn. “The snow is pretty, is it not?”
    “ Yes, it is.”
    Anne gazed outside at the falling snow. “Beautiful,” she murmured. “Simply beautiful.”
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
     
    The alarm went off at two-fifteen a.m., and Avery padded into the hallway. Light spilled from under Anne’s door, and Avery glanced toward the darkened living room. Faint snores emanated from Nate on the couch.
    Anne let Avery in before he could knock. She wore blue sweat pants and a white T-shirt. Avery’s cock pulsed to life, and he swallowed. Down, boy. Don’t embarrass me. You’re here to help Anne, not to stick your dick