Page 26 of Now Streaming

“Anything in particular you want from the menu?”

“Something greasy.” Her voice was so soft he almost missed it.

“You got it, baby. Go shower.”

His eyes followed her until Min shut the bathroom door behind her. He then went to call the hotel restaurant and order some food. Hayden hoped Min was hungry because he was pretty sure he was gonna order half the menu.

By the time she emerged, dinner was there, a large burger and fries waiting for her, as well as a chocolate milkshake. Hayden was in front of the TV, flipping the channel to a mindless comedy before turning to her. And then he froze.

He hadn’t been prepared to see her in his clothes. It seemed so innocent when he had offered them to her, just one of his old DeathsHead shirts and sweatpants he figured she’d probably swim in since he was about six inches taller than her. But now she was in them, her hair wet, his name scrawled across her chest, her face bare of makeup, her pink toes curling into the carpet, her uncertain eyes too big and staring at him. He tried to breathe, mentally yelling at himself to act like a normal person and to ignore the throb in his cock that was currently screaming for him to dosomethingabout this woman. He cleared his throat.

“Hope a burger’s okay.”

She nodded and sat at the small table, and he sat across from her. They didn’t say anything, letting the canned laughter from the TV fill the silence. When she had finally slurped the last of her milkshake, there was color back in her cheeks, and her eyes were clearer as they caught his.

“Thank you. I didn’t realize how much I needed that.” Her voice was soft, as if she was uncertain how to act around him now that they were… whatever they were.

“I guessed you hadn’t eaten since lunch.”

When they had eaten together. When she had seen her photos on the TV and then walked away from him. He had hated that but tried not to let it show. Hayden didn’t know what was happening with this woman. Why he felt this need to take care of her. But he knew deep in his core he was happy she was here. In his room.

To distract himself, he gathered up their plates, piling them on the tray they had come on, and placed the tray outside, glancing at her door across the hall. It was open, and he could hear people moving around inside, still working on her room. He quickly shut his door, not wanting her to see the activity outside this room, but when he turned, he realized he shouldn’t have worried because her focus was completely on the king-size bed in the room.

The only bed.

Hayden desperately wanted to know what thoughts were racing through her head.

She licked her lips, not looking at him as she cleared her throat. “If you give me a blanket and a pillow, I can sleep on the floor.”

He snorted at that, even though he knew he should’ve seen it coming.

“No way. You’ll take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

She looked at him then, her eyes large.

“Hayden.”

“No. I won’t argue about this. You’ve had a terrible day and you’re not ending it by sleeping on the fucking floor.”

She was shaking her head, and he could tell she was trembling, but he didn’t know why. He approached, his hand on her back, not able to keep himself from touching her.

“You’re safe here, you know,” he assured her. She nodded, her breath catching.

“I know, I just…”

“Just what?”

She paused for so long he wasn’t sure she heard him, wasn’t sure she’d answer. But then her head finally turned, her eyes catching his, wide and soft and very, very dangerous.

“I just don’t think I’ll be able to sleep in that bed by myself.”

He held his breath. Min’s hair was still wet, dampening the back of his shirt. Her hands twitched at her sides as if trying to decide what to do. But he didn’t know what she was thinking, so he couldn’t tell how to help her. Not with this. She was clearly fighting whatever question she wanted to ask him. Which only made him more and more curious.

And then she exhaled, not able to keep it inside anymore.

“Could you hold me?”

A light went off in Hayden’s head, so bright it chased all thoughts out. He reached for her, his hand grabbing the nape of her neck and pulling her into him. On their own, his arms wound around her, one hand buried in her hair while the other spread across the small of her back. His head dipped, his face falling into her neck, and he inhaled, deeply, smelling the hotel shampoo, himself on her shirt, and something light and intriguing that simply had to be her. Her hands were on his chest for a moment before they slid up to his neck, a caress, and he felt overwhelmed with the rightness of it, of how well they fit together, how his gut twisted with the need to take care of her, to chase away her sadness.

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