Page 103 of A Lucky Shot

Oh shit sorry it’s late there

Call us later love you!

He checked the time. Middle of the afternoon in Melbourne. He knew she’d forget the time difference. It had been Christmas for a few hours in this time zone. Who knew when they’d fallen asleep through Gremlins.

A yawn split his face as he tapped out a reply.

Merry Christmas. I’ll ask Santa not to be woken up at 2 AM next year

Go surfing for me and don’t get eaten by a shark. Love you both <3

He hit send with a silent chuckle and read through the other messages, replying to a few as he went. A cousin. Friends. Skipped the messages from friends-with-benefits. And one message he must have slept through.

Merry Christmas

You should be here with us

Fuck. Trust his sister to drop a perfectly timed guilt bomb. He ran a hand through his hair and scowled.

Merry Christmas Gracie. You should come visit. I’d love to see you

Josh hit send and turned his ringer off. Cass slept soundly against the armrest, sunk low into the cushions. He could just make out the rise and fall of her chest under the blanket, pulled up to her chin, and his heart squeezed in his chest.

This was absolutely out of the question.

He gently shook her shoulder.

“Hey, baby.”

Nothing.

He knelt beside her, squeezing her arm. “Cass, it’s late.”

She didn’t stir.

All the tension that Stephen had been giving him shit for was washed away. Her face looked peaceful, and he let himself thumb the soft skin along her neck. He leaned forward to whisper against her cheek. “Charms, come to bed with me.”

His arms were halfway under her sleeping form to carry her, when she murmured a quiet “umph” without opening her eyes, like she was trying to prevent the awake from sneaking in. She swung her feet off the couch and grabbed his hand to sleepwalk to the bedroom, feeling her way through the room with hands out like a blind man.

His eyes adjusted to the dark, and he climbed into bed after her, not letting go of her hand.

It had been years since he slept in the same bed as a woman without having sex first. He tried to tell himself he couldn’t remember when that would have been, but that was a lie, and something close to guilt wracked him again.

Cass curled on her side facing him, already asleep, her free arm tucked under her pillow and top leg bent towards him. The profile of her body looked like a mountain range, all curved valleys and lush darkness in the night.

He stared at the open door, where the couch waited a few steps away. Probably still warm from the hours they’d sat close. There was a blanket out there, and the couch wasn’t that small.

But she’d pulled him into her bedroom. And hell, if he didn’t want to be with her tonight.

Every night.

The renegade thought took root in his mind, and he hissed a quiet breath.

Fucking hell.

The mattress divotted under his weight as he eased in beside her. He pushed a rogue lock of hair back from her cheek, pulled the covers up to her shoulders, and pinned his other hand under his arm for safe keeping.

“Merry Christmas, Lucky Charms,” he whispered.

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