Page 52 of The Love Simulation

When the monitor finally shows that they’ve expired, I continue staring, hoping for one more glimpse of my friends so I can say goodbye, but all there is to see is a blizzard of dust.

I remove my headphones and place them on the desk. I walk to the bedroom, and when I get to my bed, Roman is sleeping. I briefly hesitate, then slide my shoes off and begin to climb in.

Roman stirs from his sleep, blinking me into focus. “It looks like you’ve been crying,” he says.

“That’s because I have. Angie and Jordan were eliminated. They ran out of oxygen after fixing the antenna.”

Roman opens up his arms, and I crawl under the covers, lying so I’m tucked against his chest as he rubs my back.

“I’m sorry,” he says, voice gravelly with sleep.

I nod. It’s just Roman and me left. I hope we can make it through with no more issues.

Chapter Nineteen

Waking up in my bed, in Roman’s arms, is…strange. A good strange.

Roman’s hand caresses my back, and I smile to myself. Everything in this simulation has gone haywire, but in an unbelievable turn of events, here I am, with him.

He’s shirtless, he’s warm, and he emits a sense of peace. But I can’t help but think of what drove me to his arms last night—losing Angie and Jordan—and all the wind is sucked from my sails.

“How are you feeling?” Roman asks.

“I think that’s supposed to be my line.” I rub his arm. “But I’ll answer anyway. I’m sad about Jordan and Angie. And I’m wondering how we’re going to get through the rest of the simulation with just the two of us. But I know it could always be worse. I could be stuck here with our rover, Miles, all by myself.”

“So I’m slightly better than a robot. Good to know.” Roman sounds wounded, but I know he’s only joking.

“Well, you are slightly handier. You can reach the teas for me, after all. I don’t think Miles can help with that. Even if I were to stand on him and—” I cut off with a shriek as Roman tickles my side.

I fight to get free of him, turning over in the bed untilmy legs are tangled in the sheets and I’m out of breath. Roman stops, and I open my eyes to find I’m face-to-face with him. Nose to nose. All our moving in the bed brought us so much closer.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hey,” he answers back.

“How is your migraine?”

“It’s gone.”

I swallow. I can’t figure out why I’m breathing so hard. That’s right, Roman just tried to tickle me to death. Because I’ve been sharing a bed with him for the past who knows how many hours. And I still can’t get over it.

As he looks at me, I bite down on my lip, and his eyes zero in on the movement. I thought my heart rate should be going down now that I’m lying still, but under Roman’s scrutiny, it only increases. I wish he’d kiss me already.

He runs a thumb over my hip. “I started feeling a lot better when you came in the room.”

I frown. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Roman’s migraine.

“I’m glad I could help,” I say, my voice nearly breaking when he goes from rubbing my hip to gripping it. The touch lights my body up like a match set against tinder. I want him. But it’s too soon, isn’t it? It’s not like we’re really together, even if in my mind we’ve gotten married, had fifty million babies, and retired on a private beach in the Caribbean.

Come back down to Earth, girl, I tell myself. Still, I can’t help but ask him, “Are you sure the migraine is gone? I hear kissing is good for headaches. The deep breaths you take help with the airflow to your head.”

Roman hums low in his throat, slips his hand under myshirt, and settles it on my lower back. I arch into his touch, which causes my chest to push up into his, and our wild heartbeats become impossibly closer. “You know,” he whispers right above my lips, “my head does hurt a little. Maybe we should test your theory.”

His lips feel perfect against mine. Warm and soft, tender yet insistent that our mouths keep moving. He moves his hand up from my lower back to cup the side of my face before migrating to the back of my neck and gripping my braids. I guess it’s still not enough, because his hand is on the move again, back to my hip, where his fingers dig in.

I let out a soft moan, loving how he barely seems to be restraining himself. If we were making love right now, I think I could get him to lose control. At the thought, I throw my leg over his and tilt my hips so I can feel where he’s hard. He tangles his tongue with mine in response, matching the pace of our grinding bodies.

When I hear a loud alarm blare through the speakers, I freeze in Roman’s arms, then butt my head against his chest, shaking my head back and forth. “No. No more. No more disasters or warnings of imminent doom. Just give us one calm day.”

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