Page 44 of Remember Me

I, on the other hand, was freezing. Whether it was because of rising in the middle of the night to walk through the house, or my feet, I was cold. My feet were still frigid from the wood floors. Without overthinking it, I eased backward stealthily, and placed my feet between his legs.

He inhaled sharply and jerked. “Jesus!”

“Loves me, yes, he does,” I said quickly. “Sorry. I’m cold.”

I felt him shifting impatiently behind me, and all at once one arm was sliding beneath my shoulders while the other snaked around my hips, and he pulled me into the curve of his body.

His naked body!

“We’re spooning,” I whispered.

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

I did so, closing my mouth to prevent any other words from coming forth. Words like,God, you feel good, orI want your sex. Because I may have been pregnant and needy, but I wasn’t ready to go there just yet. Snuggling, though...snuggling felt good. It felt more than good. It felt perfect. I relaxed back into his warmth, trying not to wiggle against the hardness I felt pushing against my bottom, and closed my eyes.

In no time at all, I felt him press a kiss against my hair, and then his breaths, too, evened and slowed.

We slept.

“Somewhere

someone shakes

from the ripple

of a thousand butterflies

inside a

single stomach.”

Tyler Knott Gregson

January¦Birdie-Before

REMI TAPPED HER TOE IMPATIENTLY AS SHE WAITED AT THE SIDEWALK LEADING TO THE BASEBALL HOUSE.I tugged at the strap of my shoe, ostensibly fixing it. Really, I was pausing to gather my courage around me before we walked up that sidewalk and into that house.

I’d acted like an idiot the other day. Dumping ice water over a guy and getting up in his face during a D1 athletic practice...that wasn’t me. I’d been so angry that this ignorant ass had put me front and center of the campus social scene. I hadn’t been able to walk three feet all day without some guy leering at me or some chick shooting me a dirty look. All I wanted to do was tell him off and unlink my name from his for good. Instead, my tirade had thrust me even further into the spotlight.

And now Remi had chosen their house for our Friday night party.

I was going to die.

“You totally did this on purpose, bitch.”

“Come on, chica. You’ve been moping ever since your big showdown the other day. Time to get in there and show a sense of humor about the whole thing.”

“I don’t have a sense of humor.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared. “I don’t think that strap can take any more tugging.”

“Gah! You’re so annoying.” Flinging my hands up in the air, I stalked by her, covering the sidewalk as quickly as my short legs would allow. “Let’s get this over with.”

I didn’t miss her smirk as she joined me and grabbed my arm. “We’re going to have fun. You’ll see.” I side-eyed her and she shrugged. “At the very least we’re gonna get white girl wasted.”

The double doors to the house were open, spilling out light and bodies and noise. I felt a wave of heat as we drew close and hesitated on the threshold. “Jesus, it’s hot in there.” I peered inside. “There must be a hundred people in that one room.”

“All the better to party with. Come on.” Remi tugged me mercilessly forward, ignoring my half-hearted efforts to pull away.

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