Page 40 of Make Me Dream of You

“Don’t be. I’m the one who started the fire.” He rubs the back of his neck, his biceps flexing. “Come on.”

He folds the comforter back and looks at me through dark lashes, drawing me to him silently in the dark. And I go, slipping in between the sheets while my heartbeat thrums in my chest.

I get in gingerly, trying not to wince when I lie on my left side.

A growl rumbles in his chest.

He pulls the covers up to my chin and kneels next to the bed, tucking the blankets around my shoulders.

His face is so close to mine when he whispers, “Good night.” His arm resting against mine.

I study the bump in his nose and the way his lower lip is plumper than the top.

The scent of his shampoo lingers in his hair and in his pillow under my head. I’m surrounded by him.

This is a chance, an intimate moment. It’s moments like this I wish Angel wasn’t just some internet persona. I wish I was her. She would say something funny, or sexy. Make him smile, lighten the mood, make him want to stay. But I’m not her. I’m me.

And all I can say is, “Good night,” and watch him leave.

I blame rolling around in his sheets, on his mattress, snuggling into his pillow, and breathing in his scent all night for my dreams.

Every dream, Noah.

His eyes.

Watching me.

Smirking at me.

Touching my naked body.

And when a warm body slides into bed next to me, in my half-asleep fog, I roll toward him, cuddling up close.

Bex giggles. “Hello, there.”

“Oh.” I yawn and roll back to my side. “Sorry.” I glance at my phone. It’s after three in the morning.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispers.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry about the fire. It was my oil paint?—”

“Don’t worry about it.” She touches my shoulder. “Macy said it wasn’t that bad. The sprinklers actually did more damage than the fire. That’s what insurance is for. We’ll figure it out. Besides, we were going to be looking for a new three-bedroom place anyway, right?”

“Right.”

She’s mostly shapes in the dark, but I can make out her blonde hair.

“Oh hey,” she says, “we haven’t shared a bed like this since we were little.”

“We used to sleep together all the time.”

“Yep. Like when you were six and you snuck into my room every night for a year because you were afraid ET was hiding in your closet.” She laughs.

“Hey, he was terrifying.” I still think he is if I’m being honest.

“I always thought he was cute.”

“Nightmare fuel.”

---