Page 42 of Sunshine

I was exhausted, too. It was still early, but it had been a long few days, and then I’d had to get up extra early to set up for the festival.

I closed my eyes, shifting on my weight a little so I could curl up better. It felt perfect to have Sunshine here, with my pack.

I should ask her on a date soon. Or at least make a joke about when she was ready to get back in the field. There had to be a cute and suave way to ask. Luca looked at her like they had already gotten naked, and Logan was incapable of being around her without his nurturing instincts being triggered and providing food for her.

Still pondering how to not so subtly ask my favorite beta if she was ready for dating, I fell asleep.

Chapter 14

Sunshine

Iwoke up sandwiched between the omega and alphas that haunted my dreams. Julian was lying against me, and I was plastered against Logan, his chest lightly rising and falling.

Disoriented, I tried to remember what had happened.

We’d been watching TV. It was dark now, but I remembered feeling incredibly comfortable then exhaustion pulled me down.

I looked around, but there wasn’t a clock handy. It could have been an hour since I’d fallen asleep or three in the morning.

I shifted my weight, my hip starting to hurt. In the movies when people accidentally fell asleep, they stayed asleep all night. But my arm and shoulder were starting to ache and I wanted to roll over.

Julian stirred and lifted his head up. He nuzzled my neck. “You okay?”

“I fell asleep, I’m sorry.” I was still trying to make sense of my surroundings, the unreal feeling of a dream making it feel like we were outside of reality.

“If I’d known all I had to do to get you to spend the night was dunk you in an ice bath I would have done it years ago.” He gave me a sleepy smile, and he looked so…vulnerable, it made my heart lurch. “We could get in the bed.”

Bed. As in lying down. My brain blanked out.

“I have to work tomorrow.” My mouth tasted bad. I hadn’t brushed my teeth. I must have horrible breath. “Three early morning appointments.”

“You want us to take you home?” Luca shifted so he could look at me. “Or we could take you…early tomorrow?”

Julian looked over my shoulder and gave Luca a smile, even though I wasn’t sure why.

“I need my stuff.” I shifted again, my hip hurting. “I don’t have a toothbrush or anything.”

I also didn’t want to sleep in my bra, but I didn’t want to take it off around them. I thought about the morning, about how weird I would feel without any of my personal items. Sleeping next to them in bed would feel like…we were more than just friends. But maybe that was the result of my desperate longing—adding myself into a situation that didn’t include me.

“No problem.” Logan patted my shoulder. “You can always come back.”

“And next time you could pack an overnight bag,” Julian said brightly. He didn’t seem sleepy at all, even though he’d just woken up.

Arms and blankets were moved, and then we were all standing up. I looked around, blinking and a little confused, feeling like there were some things I needed to take with me, but not able to work out what. I was still half asleep and missing the warmth of the snuggle pile. I stood next to Julian, my hand wrapped around his arm, and leaning on his shoulder.

“I’ll get your clothes,” Luca said. “Just a sec.”

A minute later, he was back with my dry clothes in his hands.

“I’m sorry you have to drive me.” I bit my lip. If I’d driven over here, they could have stayed comfortable and warm.

“It’s no problem, babe.” Julian kissed my temple, and we went outside. It was a nice night, only a little bit cool. I climbedinto the backseat and was shocked when Luca and Logan climbed in on either side of me.

I frowned. “I thought…”

“Iamallowed to drive.” Julian waved at me from the driver’s seat. “It’s late and we all just woke up so I’m the driver. Luca and Logan know better.”

“Boy do we,” Logan muttered. His voice was still thick with sleep. “Last time we insisted we drive late at night, we got a long lecture about how many drivers fall asleep at the wheel.”

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