Page 40 of Maybe You

“That was fast. You two just met.”

“Turns out with the right incentive, I’m easy,” I mumble, halfway to drifting off already.

“Almost feels like I should be insulted,” Sutton says.

“Don’t be.” I yawn again, then wiggle upward until my feet are on the bed too, and not dangling over the end. “I totally would’ve been easy with you too, but I’m too much of a coward.”

He doesn’t say anything to that, and I’m almost asleep when something pokes the underside of my foot. I snatch my legs away with a shout of protest, pry my eyes open, and squint at him, brows furrowed.

“Ticklish?” he asks, eyes shining with laughter.

“Minimimi—” I frown and try again. “Miminima—” I don’t think that’s it either. Minimally. I can totally say it in my head, but the letters get all mixed up when my mouth tries to make them.

“Not much,” I finally say before I drop back down on the bed. The sleepy haze that had wrapped itself around me has lifted.

“I have to get going,” I mutter toward the ceiling. I squeeze my eyes shut once more before I push myself up into a sitting position. I rub my palm over my face and try to think, even though my thoughts are still scattered all over the place, so it’s not going too well.

“You should just stay here and sleep it off,” Sutton says. He sounds weird. Not like he’s reluctant to have a sleepover with me, exactly, but sort of cautious.

I’d argue, but this is a really nice bed, and it’s cold and dark outside, so in the end, it’s not that difficult of a choice.

“Okay.” I immediately roll myself to one side of the bed and tug at the comforter until I’m under it, and then I sigh happily.

I hear Sutton moving around, and then he’s poking me again.

“Sleeping,” I mutter.

“Not before you drink this.”

It’s another glass of water, and he also drops two white pills onto my palm.

“Ibuprofen,” he says. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

I dutifully swallow the pills and drink some of the water, set the glass down on the nightstand, and collapse back onto the bed.

“Do you maybe want to take some of the clothes off?” Sutton continues with his quest to keep me awake.

I pull the covers higher, press my face into the pillow, and inhale some more of that good scent.

“Wren?” Sutton says. “Do you want something more comfortable to sleep in?”

“No,” I mumble into the pillow. “I don’t get naked in front of people.”

“I was thinking more as in do you want to borrow a T-shirt.”

“No naked arms.”

He’s silent for a little bit.

“Okay,” he eventually says. There are footsteps. The click of the light switch. Then silence again.

“Do you have to let anybody know you’re not coming home tonight?”

Gears move a bit slowly, but eventually I realize he’s right, and I absolutely should let somebody know, otherwise Jordan will send a search party after me. I wrestle my phone out and send him a quick text before I drop the phone back down somewhere without looking where it lands.

“Call me if you need anything.” Sutton’s voice is farther away now.

I force myself to lift my head from the pillow and frown at the doorway, where his body is a dark outline drawn out by the light that’s somewhere behind him. “You’re not coming to sleep?”

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