Page 79 of Between Us

Letting out a startled squeal, I naturally wrap my body around him, so I don’t fall.

“You’d just sacrifice me like that? After I made you cometwice?”

After setting a towel on the counter, he plops me down and wraps another one around my shoulders. “If we were ever in a real situation where one of us had to sacrifice ourselves, I’d argue you’d never let me be the one to do it.”

“Fair and true assumption,” he agrees with a nod and wraps a towel around his own waist. Grabbing a small cotton towel for himself, he starts to gently pat his hair dry. “I know we’re just hanging out, but I have to do something with my hair, or I’ll regret it in the morning.”

Adjusting the towel that he wrapped around my shoulders and moving it to tie around my chest, I hop off the counter and grab one of the spare combs he has. “I’ll go change. Can I borrow this?”

“Go for it,” he nods in my direction.

Without second guessing myself, I lean on my toes and place a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll find us something to watch.”

With that, I swipe the clothes he left for me off the counter, leaving him to his hair routine. Once I’ve combed out my own hair and left it to air dry, I contemplate the outfit Adrian picked for me. It’s an old Nike tee and a pair of large sweats. Not only are they way too long for me, considering our height difference, but they look thick andhot. Temperature hot, not attractiveness—I don’t find myself caring about that after what Adrian and I just shared together.

I’m only in the oversized T-shirt when he walks out of the bathroom a few minutes later, still contemplating the pants.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

Feeling silly, I shake my head and decide just to wear the stupid sweats. “Nothing, it’s okay.”

Tilting his head and contemplating if he should push the subject, he snaps into motion when an idea. With only one leg in the garment, I watch as he walks to his dresser and pulls out a pair of boxer-briefs.

Holding them in my direction, he teases, “Wouldn’t want you getting too hot—covered feet and all.”

Rolling my eyes, I snatch the underwear from his hand and pull them up my legs. Twisting around a little bit, I look up and tell him, “These are really comfy. I might keep them.”

“Go for it,” he offers easily. “You look cute.”

He moves to pull on the abandoned sweatpants as I sit crisscross in his bed. “Sooo…” I trail off.

“So?”

“I just don’t want the food to go to waste again, and I don’t want you to have to drive in the middle of the night.”

His eyes glance to the clock by his bed. Twelve fifty-three a.m. “I’d say it’s already the middle of the night,” he cheekily states.

“Oh,” I flush at the realization of how much time has passed since we left the haunted house. “Do you want me to g—”

“No, I want you here. Unless you want me to take you home,” he adds. Kneeling in front of me on the floor, he gently runs a hand up my neck and tangles it into my hair. “I want you to stay with me tonight, but only if that’s whatyouwant, Storm Cloud.”

“I don’t want to leave,” I whisper. “I just… didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”

Shaking his head, he presses a kiss to my lips and promises, “You’re not. I want you with me all the time now—it’s becoming a problem I don’t actually want a solution to. I don’t think I could handle the idea of sleeping in my bed alone after tonight.”

Not knowing what to say to that—or at least, not having the courage to scream the words that have been growing in my heart—I grab him by the cheeks and pull him into me. I know words will be a necessity at some point. Though right now, tonight, sharing our bodies feels more important than any words we could give each other.

Pulling away, Adrian tells me to get under the covers and hands me the remote to the TV. As I start to scroll through the movie options, he brings our food with extra plates and napkins before crawling into bed next to me.

As we get settled—me choosing what to watch and him fixing my plate of tacos—we spend the next couple of hours in a state of intimacy and comfort. One I know I’ll never be able to replicate with someone other than Adrian.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Blake

Sittingbehindthedesk,I silently watch as my dad goes over Benji the Beagle’s care since he’s going home today. Adrian is bringing the dog from the back kennel.

I’ve been too distracted to really focus on what my dad’s saying for the last ten minutes.

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