Page 47 of Riff

Because when Riff had been leaving my room after bringing me my dessert, I’d heard Raff offering to let Riff sleep in his room earlier. But Riff had said he’d crash on the couch in the living room.

And, well, if he was okay with sleeping on a couch in the living room, maybe I could convince him to sleep on the one in his room instead.

“Riff?” I whispered as I closed in on the couch, not wanting to startle him. But he was out cold. “Riff?” I called again as I rounded it, stopping short at seeing him lying there, his upper body bare, the outlines of his muscles evident even at rest.

Did he always sleep without a shirt? Had he been wearing one just for my comfort during the road trip?

That was… unexpectedly considerate.

Even as I thought that, my gaze seemed to dip, finding him in a pair of navy blue sleep pants. That were doing nothing to hide the fact that he was… having happy dreams.

I expected complete and utter panic.

And while my pulse did speed up, I wasn’t convinced it was in fear.

But it couldn’t have been anything else.

I forced my gaze back up to his face.

“Riff?” I called, voice a little louder. Then, desperate, “Reid!”

He woke up with a jolt, body tense, eyes unseeing for a second.

“Vienna?” he called, slow-blinking at me, sleep clearly still clinging to his mind.

Then, coming fully alert with a widening of his eyes, he knifed up into a seated position, folding forward to hide the proof of his desire.

“Are you okay?” he asked, voice tense.

“I just… I can’t… sleep,” I admitted, feeling flustered all of a sudden. “I was just wondering if you would… never mind,” I said.

“No, what?” he asked, head tipped to the side as he watched me.

“Just… there’s a couch in your room,” I said, gaze on my feet, feeling so silly all of a sudden.

“You want me to sleep there?” he asked, wanting confirmation.

“It’s okay if you don’t want—“ I started, but he was already climbing off of the couch, gathering his blanket in front of him, then reaching for his pillow.

“Of course I’ll sleep there,” he said.

And it really was just that easy with him.

If I wanted it, he would give it.

And never seemed resentful of it, either.

Every day I spent with him just further proved that he was one of the good ones, one of the ones who could be trusted, who I could rely on.

And just knowing that seemed to shine a bit of light into all of the darkness inside of me.

Sure enough, with him on the couch in the room, I was asleep within minutes.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Riff

I woke up every fucking morning with my cock straining against my pants. It was so fucking chronic that I’d taken to sleeping on my side instead of my back, facing the couch cushions, so the issue wasn’t so clearly on display.

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