Page 33 of Summertime Friends

“Thank you.”

My back to him, I slipped on the t-shirt, I can tell it’s older, loved—another shirt from university. There’s a small hole in the right shoulder and on the side by the hem. On me, the shirt is massive. It hangs down to below mid-thigh when I remove my skirt and hugs the curve of my butt.

“Did you play rugby?” I asked.

“Football or soccer as you call it. But enjoyed watching rugby and supporting the team. George played.”

I turned around to face him, but Liam had already gone to the couch.

“Good night, States. Don’t dream too much about me tonight,” I heard from the couch in the suite’s common living space. His sleepy voice was familiar, and I knew if I was lucky, I’d hear it in my dreams tonight.

Liam Hayes is a dream on both sides of consciousness.

“Good night, Liam,” I whispered back.

I slipped in on the side I could tell was opposite to the one he had been sleeping on. The sheets pulled up around me. Warm, enclosed in his smell, and satisfied with tonight, sleep came easily.

At some point in the night, Liam climbed into the bed.

I should be bothered.

I shouldn’t enjoy being in his arms.

I shouldn’t enjoy the feeling of him up against me. I shouldn’t be trying to feel him up against me.But I do.

I move my hips slightly.

“States,” a sleepy Liam growls out.

“Mhmm.”

“If you don’t plan on that being in you, I’d stop moving this minute.” His breath is on the back of my neck, sending a shiver down my spine and making the hair on my arms stand straight up. The combined sensation is a flame burning my body, desperate to be extinguished.

I try to move Liam’s arm so that I can escape.

His arm doesn’t budge. If anything, the jerk tightened his grip on me.

“Mates came back and kicked me off the couch. I hope ya don’t mind.”

Do I mind?An extremely attractive guy with muscles that rival a Greek statue, and a British accent that would have any female swooning over them, cuddled me in bed. I couldn’t even get my last boyfriend to cuddle me during a movie.Yeah, I don’t mind.

“Oh yeah. Y-yeah, I don’t mind.”

He removes his arm from me a few minutes later and got out of bed. Thank goodness. The warmth of his body was gone, leavingme with a chill. Never mind. I think I’d rather he be back in bed now.

I roll over. In the haze of last night and drinking in his delicacy, I didn’t realize how tall he was. Standing, Liam has to be two or three inches over six feet easily. Compared to my five foot seven, he is a giant.

When he lifts his arms to stretch, it takes everything in me not to say ‘big stretch’ like my mom used to say to our dog, Buster.

Instead, I need to pick my jaw up from the ground. Probably find a tissue to wipe up the drool too.

His broad shoulders ripple first, each muscle following suit. The layers of muscles down his back narrow into his waist that dips into a pair of dark gray Calvin Klein briefs. If my ass is grabbable, his is one you could eat off.

Under the covers, I clench my legs. My hand flies to my mouth to cover it with a smack, and I pray that I don’t say anything stupid or do anything foolish. The way he makes me feel has eroded my faith in myself.

Liam walks straight ahead to the bathroom. From the way his ears rise, I know he has a smug grin on his face.

I have to go. I decide to use Liam’s time in the bathroom as my opportunity to leave.

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