Page 58 of Without You, Scotch and Sammy 2

I strip off my jeans and climb under the covers, and I inhale the sweet smell of candy shampoo. “Fuck.”

– Sammy –

To The Yard; She Took It

I bat my hand at the tickle in my ear and roll away. “Go ’way.”

“Maybe I should kiss the princess to wake her up?”

I scrunch my eyes closed as I begin to surface, and I cuddle into my bed and hug my arms around my legs. “No.”

“You kiss her, and you die.”

I smile in my sleep. He has such a pretty voice.

“But she looks so soft and warm. I bet if I climbed under the blanket, we could set up camp and be comfy for hours.” The tickle at my ear begins again, then he whispers softly, “Wake up, princess. It’s a new day.”

“Sleeping. Not time to get up yet.”

The voice chuckles softly and moves away from me, “Did you know she talks in her sleep?”

“Mmhm. That’s where I learned most of her secrets.”

Luc’s voice perks immediately. “What kinda secrets?”

“Like how she used to sneak around libraries to get my attention. And how she tricked me into letting her tutor me in high school.”

“I coulda told you that,” Angelo’s voice rumbles. “Seems to me you weren’t the one who got tricked.”

Sam chuckles. “I was smarter than I looked.”

I’m too close to the surface now, they won’t shut up, so I stop fighting the inevitable and slowly blink my eyes open. This isn’t my bed, but it’s the dirty couch that the guys carried upstairs. I’m facing into the cushions, but as I fully come to wake, my body breaks out in goosebumps from the chill in the air. I blink slowly and focus on my surroundings, yawning away the fog, then once my brain registers the natural sunlight in the room, I shoot up.

“Aw, she wakes.”

My eyes stop on Luc’s only a foot away from me, then I look at the clock. Nine a.m. “Oh my god.” I jump up in a panic and sprint to my room. “Oh my god!” I cry out when Lily’s not where I left her. I run back to the living room and almost collide head first with Sam. He stands by the kitchen entrance with Lily tucked in his arms and a bottle between her lips. Tears well in my eyes at my negligence. “Oh my god, she must be starving. I slept through two feedings.”

He shakes his head and grins the way I remember from forever ago. “She’s fine. She ate at three and six, and again now.”

“But--”

“Are you rested?” he murmurs softly. “I know it was late, so I hope the big sleep helped.”

“How late did you kids stay up?” Luc bounces his brows obnoxiously. “Was it fun?”

Sam glares at him. “Shut up, Lenaghan.”

“She’s okay?”

Sam’s gaze comes back to mine. “She’s perfect. She slept every single minute all night except eating time.”

“She slept all night?”

He nods. “The band serenaded her à la iPod, and she didn’t make a sound.”

“Except the squeaking,” Angelo adds with a smile. “Does anybody else think that squeak is adorable as shit?”

Luc and Sam both nod at the same time. “Yup.”

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