Page 83 of My Vampire Plus-One

ANDIFROMAUSTRALIA:YESSSSSS

Amelia

I blinked my eyes opento the unpleasant aroma of burnt baking soda.

I tried to sit up so I could investigate what was happening in the kitchen. But I couldn’t. My face was pressed against a broad, solid chest. A heavy arm draped over my side, pulling me close.

Wait.

There was aperson in bed with me.

I froze, the events of the previous night coming back to me in a rush.

Oh my god.

I’d asked Reggie to sleep next to me.

And he’dagreed.

Bright sunshine streamed in from the window. How long had we been cuddled up like this?

“Reggie?” I whispered.

He stirred without waking up, tucking me even closer to his body. We’d both slept in our clothes. Thank god for that. The fabric of his long-sleeved flannel shirt was so soft against my cheek and smelled impossibly good. The scent of laundry detergent, cool male skin, and something entirely other, something entirelyReggie, clung to him. I wanted to linger in it.

But no.

I couldn’t give in to whatever this was.

“Reggie,” I said again, a little louder this time. Both to wake him up and to remind my sluggish brain that I needed to get out of this bed, too, and put some distance between us. I gave his shoulder a shake. “Wake up.”

He cracked open an eye.

“Amelia?” There was a moment of confusion as he struggled to focus on my face. “What—?” And then, realization hit. He jerked, and flung himself back from me as though I’d burned him. Partly, anyway; our legs still twined together beneath the covers. “Oh,shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”

Something about this whole absurd situation—being snowed in and stuck for who knew how much longer with my vampire plus-one; telling him we absolutely couldnotkiss again, only to end up inviting him into my bed the same night and sleeping wrapped in his arms—made something inside me snap.

I started laughing. Nothing about this situation was funny, but once I got started, I couldn’t stop. What began as a quiet giggle quickly became a laugh that was so hard, I was gasping.

I took some deep breaths as I tried to get myself under control. “Oh,god, Reggie, I can’t believe that we’re—”

“What’s so funny?” Reggie was grinning, clearly delighted, but the corners of his eyes crinkled in confusion. He moved closer to me, his arm again wrapping around my waist. “Did I make a joke without realizing? Usually, I know it when I’ve been funny.”

“I can’t—I can’t believe we’re here, stuck…in this bed…You’re avampire!” I said between peals of laughter.

“I am,” he agreed. He was beaming at me now. “And yes, we are. I made pancakes if you’re hungry. I couldn’t sleep. Though I may have used too much baking soda. I couldn’t find a teaspoon,so I used a large measuring cup instead.”

So that’s what that smell was. It only made me laugh harder.My eyes leaked with tears as I sat up and clutched my stomach. “Oh my god, I can’t—”

“Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are right now?”

His words cut through my hysteria like a knife. My laughter, the ridiculousness of our situation, melted away. All that was left was our proximity, the way our legs still tangled together beneath the covers—and his bright blue eyes, boring into mine.

I swallowed. “I’m…I’m what?”

“I’ve wanted to see you like this for what feels like a century,” he breathed. He sat up in bed beside me, then trailed tentative fingertips up my side, along my neck. Slowly, as though giving me the opportunity to rebuff him if I didn’t want him to touch me. Ididwant, though. I shivered at his touch, at the way the space between us went suddenly breathless and hot, and made no move to stop him. “I’ve wanted to make you laugh like this since the night we met. You wereterribleat pretending to laugh when I asked you to, but in hindsight I see that was a good thing. Because if I’d seen what you are like when youtrulylet go, I would have fallen to my knees. Right then and there.”

Now that I wasn’t laughing anymore, my breathing should have been slowing down. It wasn’t. His was quickening, too. I could see it in the way his chest rose and fell, in the way his nostrils flared almost imperceptibly. If I’d been in my right mind, I probably wouldn’t have inched closer to him. I certainly would have had the sense not to reach for his hand. But it felt like we resided in some liminal space here. A place where we were freed from having to worry about work and good decisions. And from the fact that most of the time, vampires like him fed on humans like me.

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