Page 120 of The Snowball Effect

She’d been careful not to sit this close in the last week; it was the smart thing to do. Give alittlebreathing room, post-kiss.

But Regan didn’t want to do the smart thing right now, and she was just drunk enough to disregard logic. She wanted to be as close to Emma as she could be, as this feeling completely took her over. This soft, sweet, powerful, yearning feeling.

Emma had made a little nest on the couch so that she could wait up for Regan to come home and make sure she was safe and sound. She’d made sure Regan had food and water and ibuprofen.

Emma took in a deep breath as Regan curled up next to her, her eyebrows furrowing. “Well, usually you’re home. Tonight was different. So, I did something different.”

“Sure,” Regan graciously allowed Emma to lie to her. It didn’t matter what Emmasaid, Regan knew the truth.

And if she wasn’t growing more lethargic by the minute, that truth would be enough to make her do one of her happy dances in the middle of the room. Then again, she wasn’t willing to sacrifice this snuggle for anything.

“Look, you’re clearly not sober. I could hear you struggling to open the door. You have a really busy day tomorrow, given that you have to make all of the desserts for Everly’s birthday party Sunday. And I thought,” Emma cut herself off, rolling her lips. “I thought that you’d be home earlier, so when you weren’t, it felt… strange.”

“You were worried about me.” Regan could hear the wonder in her tone, and she leaned right into it. Physically, she leaned even more into Emma.

God she was sosoft. And she smelled so good. Regan turned her head even more so she could press her nose right against Emma’s shoulder.

“I was mildly concerned, if anything,” Emma corrected, staring down at Regan as best she could given their closeness.

“You were mildly concerned about me,” Regan echoed, her words muffled against the thin fabric of Emma’s t-shirt. Letting out a content sigh, she shifted to drop her head against Emma’s shoulder to rest. “I’ll take it.”

She’d take just about anything Emma wanted to give her, she thought, stifling a yawn.

“If you don’t want to have any more soup or anything, do you want to go to bed?”

“With you?” Regan breathed the question out as she squirmed closer, close enough to essentially wedge herself in between Emma and the couch.

“What?” Emma spluttered the question, her voice higher pitched than it typically was. “I – no. I meant to your bed. By yourself,” she quickly added.

Even though Regan didn’t lift her head up, she shook it. “Mm, then no. When I’m drunk, I like to snuggle.”

“I thought you weren’t drunk.”

“I’m notthatdrunk,” Regan corrected, giggling sleepily. “I’m not that drunk and I’m wide awake, and I want to hang out withyou. My platonic friend and roommate. And I assume you’re also wide awake, since you weren’t waiting up for me or anything.”

She could feel Emma’s sharp, huffy inhale, and she smiled widely to herself. Gotcha.

“Yeah. I’m awake.”

“Great. Why don’t we put on a show, then?” Regan suggested, lifting an arm that was already starting to feel heavy with exhaustion, to gesture at the television. “Late night weekend drunken cuddle couch hang outs are a normal rite of passage for any roommate that you’re friends with.”

She felt the need to tack that on, in case Emma got any big ideas about moving away from her or putting space between them. In this moment, any space between them seemed downright offensive to Regan.

“I thought you said that Sutton didn’t wait up for you?” Emma countered, even as she was turning on the TV.

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Can’t help who I am,” Emma spoke through a yawn.

Regan’s eyes were closed, but her lips curled into a grin. Not waiting up for her – yeah, right.

Her head felt pleasantly heavy, perched on Emma’s perfectly sloped shoulder. Her muscles were absolutely lax as her entire body leaned into Emma’s supple curves. And every breath she took filled her lungs withEmma.

So enticing. So relaxing. “What a combination.”

“What was that?” Emma’s voice was barely audible over the episode starting to play on the television.

“Nothing,” she breathed. Honestly, she didn’t even remember what she’d said. In this moment, Regan’s mind was blissfully blank.

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