Page 39 of Lakesides and Longing

He would not risk his friendship for Paige.

Yet here they were, at her parents’ house, getting ready to sleep in the same bed. He was so in for it. He had left her downstairs talking to her parents and planned on being in bed before she came up.

But just as he was yanking his shirt over his head, she knocked on the door to his room from the jack in jill bathroom.

“Come in,” he called.

She poked her head in, her hair, finally out of its ponytail, spilling in waves around her face. His fingers itched to dig into it and pull her face close to his.

He sat on his hands.

“You ready for bed?” she asked, her face hopeful.

“I am, but I think I’ll sleep in here tonight.”

She pouted, her bottom lip inviting him in. He closed his eyes for a moment and ran a hand along his face. She sat next to him and placed a hand on his thigh.

“Please. I can’t risk waking up screaming here. After Emery died, they all treated me like I was going to break. I got so tired of people walking on eggshells around me. I managed to convince everyone I was fine and I don’t want that to change now. My mom and dad don’t need to be worrying about me.”

“Paige, if I sleep with you here, I won’t be able to keep my hands off of you.”

“Is that really a bad thing?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

He stood up and paced in front of her. He couldn’t deny how he felt about her. Not now, and he didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to resist her.

“Yes. It is. For one thing, your parents are down the hall. And for another, I saw how Lukas reacted to Seth. He won’t allow this to happen.”

She stood and placed her hands on his stomach, causing all sorts of unwanted emotions. But he didn’t pull away from her.

“We’ll deal with Lukas later. What’s different about the bed in here or at home?”

He waved his hand toward the bed. “That’s half the size of your bed at home.”

Her lips twitched. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Not really.” It was a double bed, but still.

“We get tangled up in my big bed at home. We just won’t fight it here.”

He stepped around her and yanked a blanket off his bed. “Fine. But Tria is sleeping between us.”

Paige clapped her hands. “Of course Tria can sleep between us.”

But Blake knew that wouldn’t last. Tria didn’t like being trapped between two people and would end up at their feet.

CHAPTER29

Paige sat on Hayden’s boat in a bikini, her face pointed up to the sun. She’d managed to find a quiet corner, which was what she needed right now. Everyone else was in the water, splashing and carrying on, but Paige craved alone time to think.

At least three times last night she swore Blake was going to kiss her. But he didn’t, and she wasn’t brave enough to make the first move herself. They had spent most of the night with her back pressed against his front and his strong arm holding her tight, but this morning he acted like nothing had changed between them, and since they’d been on the boat, he’d basically ignored her.

She was so tired of this.

The ladder behind her creaked, and she jerked her head around. Jessica came up, her wet hair trailing down the towel wrapped around her back.

“Can I lay out with you?” she asked.

“Sure.”

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