Page 69 of Daydream

He sighs and drops into the chair beside me, quickly leaning forward to peek at my laptop screen. “It’s walk-in and I didn’t leave home when I was supposed to leave. Then I didn’t leave at my backup leave time, and I just kept staring at the time until I got to the point where if Ididgo to the barbershop and wait for the only guy I’ll let cut my hair, I’d definitely be late to this.”

“How do you ever get anything done?” I ask genuinely. “I would have dropped you off if you needed someone to nudge you.”

He runs his hand over his hair, his now-longer curls moving under his palm. “I used to go with a guy on the team named Joe. I put him onto my barber when we met because his hair texture is the same as mine, and he hadn’t found a good one yet. It was our thing that we did together. Then we’d watch sports for a couple of hours and hang out. He graduated and moved to Connecticut for law school, so now I have to go by myself.”

“You had a date day with your hockey friend? That’s so cute!”

I’mdefinitelysmiling, but he isn’t. He rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t a date. It was two guys with the same barber going to get their hair trimmed at the same time. Then hanging out in the same place afterward.”

“So you got all your date experience from Joe, and now you’re passing it on to me? I love this. How wholesome.”

Henry moves forward to take my hands and pull me onto his knee. With our faces level he leans in, his lips practically brushing mine. “There’s nothing wholesome about the things I think about when I’m with you. Or when we’re apart.”

I rub my nose against his slightly and his breathing slows. I lower my voice. “Did you say the same thing to Joe?”

That one makes him laugh. “No, but there’s lots of things I say to you that I don’t say to anyone else. How long do I have you before everyone arrives?”

Henry’s finger travels over my thigh, tracing small circles and swirls while he listens to me talk. It makes it difficult to string a sentence together.

“Less than an hour. Aurora is at dinner with her mom and sister, then I arranged for a car to pick everyone up from her house. The event coordinator was superefficient, so the setup crew and deliveries finished early.”

“What do you want to do with time alone in a hotel?” he asks, his voice low as his mouth skims my jaw until his lips find my neck. “After a week without me?”

My skin feels electric. Every cell in my body pays attention when Henry is near me, and the more he touches me the louder they scream for more. More touching, more pressure. Justmore. It’s as exciting as it is totally terrifying.

“I want to go into my bedroom”—he mumbles anmmmof approval against my skin—“and take off our clothes.” He kisses my neck, andthe will to continue dwindles with every microsecond. “And put on our personalized Aurora’s-birthday-sleepover pink pajamas.”

He stops and slowly leans back so I can see him and his dilated pupils. “We need to work on your delivery, but I’m okay with this plan. And it’s been so long since I saw you totally naked…” His arm scoops under the back of my knees, and before I can react, he’s carrying me across the room toward the bedrooms. “Which one is ours?”

“You broke a rule!” I squeak, flustered by being carried like I weigh nothing. “The same one you always break!”

“Tell it to the board, Captain.”

I point toward the door that’s slightly ajar. “That’smyroom. You’re sleeping out here with the rest of the guys.”

Henry uses his back to push the door open properly and walks until he can place me gently on my bed. He crosses his arms and grips the bottom of his T-shirt, slowly pulling it over his head. It lands on the bed next to me. “We both know I’m not.”

Desire and anxiety are fighting each other to be my most dominant feeling. Yes, I want to have a repeat of last time, but here? When we’ll have to rush and then spend the night hanging out with everyone? I’m not sure I’m there yet. Even the desire to doanythingwith someone is such a strange new thing for me.

“Henry…” I say, hating how meek my voice sounds, pushing myself up onto my forearms to look at him properly.

“I know what you want, Halle. Do you trust me?” I nod. “Good. Close your eyes.”

I should tell him that I’m unsure, but I’m also curious to see what happens. It’s different from how things have been in the past; my anxiety is rooted in being nervous about the unknown. It is, at its core, excitement as much as it’s apprehension.

Henry doesn’t touch me when my eyes flutter shut. I hear him move around the room and the sound of a zip, followed by moreshuffling. My heartbeat doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be doing and he still hasn’t done anything to me.

“Open your eyes, Halle,” he says gently.

Taking a deep, and hopefully discreet, breath, I slowly open my eyes.

And immediately burst into laughter.

“I feel like a marshmallow,” he says, looking down at the satin pajamas he’s now wearing.

The small sense of relief I feel confuses me more than anything. “Baby pink suits you.”

Henry pulls the hem of the shirt and shakes his head. I love that his name is embroidered above the chest pocket just like his Titans T-shirts. “Everything suits me. It doesn’t mean I should wear it.”

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