Page 38 of Beat around the Bush
God, he smelled good.
He reached around to unbuckle my seat belt, and then the door opened, his warmth abandoning me. I almost whimpered at the loss of his body next to mine, but before I had the chance to, large hands gripped my hands and helped scoot me to the edge of the bench seat.
“I’m going to carry you, okay?”
“Okay.”
One arm wrapped around my back, the other right behind my knees, and then I was floating. My cheek rested against his hard chest, his jacket swallowing me up in his arms.
I heard a jingle of keys, a lock click, and a door swing open. As we crossed the threshold, blissful warmth surrounded my body. He closed the door with his boot and flicked a light on, then brought me down the hall.
“Your house is nice,” I mumbled, even though I’d barely gotten a look.
A second later, I was laid down on a soft, plush surface, and his fingers were gently grabbing my ankle as his other hand unlaced my sneaker. Once the first one was off, he started on the other.
“Your socks are soaked,” he said, more to himself than to me. I was well aware of the state my feet were in, given I could barely feel them at the moment.
He got the second shoe off, tossing it to the floor. “I need to take your pants off, Oak. They’re wet.”
“I don’t have any other pants,” I said as another shiver wracked my body, even though the house was warm.
“I have some sweats you can borrow. Lift your hips.” His fingers worked at the button on my jeans, then I heard the zipper, and his skin brushed mine as he hooked his fingers in the waistband. I did my best to lift, giving him an inch of space. But with muscles like that, that was all he needed to pull my pants off completely.
God, how I wished this was happening under different circumstances.
Instead of clothing me with those sweats he mentioned, he pulled the covers over me, and then came around to the other side of the bed and crawled in beside me. As his legs touched mine, I realized he’d taken his pants off as well, and by the bareness of his arms, he’d lost his shirt, too.
“While I’d l-love to s-sleep with you right now, I’m too t-tired,” I mumbled into the soft pillow.
His arm snaked around my waist, his head just above mine on the pillow. “I’m not trying to sleep with you, Oak. I’m trying to get you warm.”
My frozen feet found his warm skin, but he didn’t pull away. He let me use his heat to warm me up. His entire body against mine made every nerve ending in my body come alive.
“Why’d you c-call me that earlier?” I asked, my voice slightly muffled. Even the cold couldn’t get what he’d said out of my mind.
“Call you what?”
“Your girl.”
The rise and fall of his chest froze for a second before he nuzzled me closer. “I don’t know, Oak.” His words were softer than I’d ever heard them before. “Try to get some sleep.”
I let it go, allowing the exhaustion to take over. This was so wrong, but no part of me wanted to do the right thing and ask him to take me home.
Right now, I didn’t want to be anywhere else but in Lennon’s house, cuddled up with him in his bed, using his body to warm me up.
17
Lennon
I’d slept maybe four hours and spent the rest of the night listening to the sound of Oakley breathing as she slept in my arms. Normally, I would have occupied myself with something rather than laying there unable to sleep, but all I wanted to do was feel Oakley warm against my body.
She’d been too cold, barely dressed for fall, let alone winter and freezing temperatures. Her socks were so wet and cold in my hands, I’d half expected her toes to be black when I pulled her socks off. Thankfully, they weren’t, but they were so cold she could barely move them.
When she’d asked about my slip-up of calling her my girl, my heart had nearly frozen to death right along with her. I hadn’t even realized it slid off my tongue in that moment, but my entirebody and mind were screaming to help her, and that guy was in my way.
Instead of choosing to look further into why I’d said it, I slid out from the bed, careful not to wake her as I pulled on my gray sweatpants. As promised, I left a second pair folded up on the end of the bed for when she woke, along with one of my sweatshirts in case she wanted it.
To wear it.
