Page 40 of The Temptation
“How did you know this was what I needed?”
Pierce was silent for almost a full minute. I would have thought he’d fallen asleep if he hadn’t reached out and handed me a grape. “Did I ever tell you I almost didn’t pass the bar the first time?”
“What?” I gasped, my head popping up to stare wide-eyed at him.
He smirked and put his hand on my head, guiding it back to his chest. “I know. I come from a long line of lawyers. You’d think it would be part of my DNA. I studied and prepared, but as the day came closer, I panicked. It felt as if the entirety of my family—past and present—was glaring at me. My brain went blank. I pulled myself together before it was too late, but my score was nowhere near as high as it should have been. Afterward, I was so stressed out and disappointed with my performance. Sebastian and Rome wanted to celebrate, but I had to put them off. This was all I wanted. A couple of days to decompress and feel normal.”
There was a long silence, and I knew Pierce was waiting for me to talk about my struggles, but he wasn’t pressuring me. Not a single question. He reached out and picked up a strawberry. He held it in front of my lips until I ate it. That was it. He was there for me, willing to hold me, feed me, and keep me safe.
“I’m not like this after every performance,” I stated, my tone somewhat defensive. Those words were rewarded with a piece of Gouda. Fuck, I was so screwed. If he was going to continue feeding me cheese, I was going to confess all my secrets. At least this was a minor one.
“I was much worse when I was younger. I got overwhelmed by the slightest things. My parents had to hire tutors to help me so I could get through school. I didn’t want to slow down with the competitions and performances, but I needed longer and longer breaks from school to get on my feet again. By the time I was nearing the end of high school, I got better at compartmentalizing and dealing with the stress. Now, this happens each time I overextend. I just need a couple of quiet days and lots of sleep to bounce back.”
The arm Pierce had draped across my waist tightened, and I closed my eyes, losing myself in the sound of his heartbeat and raindrops on leaves.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Pierce murmured.
“Nope. This is perfect.” I sighed.
“Then get some sleep.” Pierce pressed the softest kiss to my forehead, and it was as if he’d touched a magic button. As much as I wanted to stay awake, wallowing in this cozy warmth with him, I couldn’t. Sleep overtook me and left a smile on my lips.
13
PIERCE SUTTON
Morning seemedto arrive more quickly than normal. I stretched, and one of my legs fell off the bed. My eyes flew open as my toes touched the floor, and I looked around. I wasn’t in my bed, but on the sofa in the corner of my bedroom.
Simon.
Last night returned to my sleep-fogged brain in a flash. After Simon had fallen asleep on me, I’d carried him to the bed and tucked him in and slept on the couch. I could have moved to one of the other five bedrooms in my home, but I’d wanted to be close in case Simon awoke in the middle of the night in a panic.
After tossing the blanket aside, I turned and put my other foot on the floor. I scrubbed my hands across my face, trying to banish the rest of the fog from my mind. How had I not known that he was overwhelmed and burned out from everything happening in his life?
Mostly because the man always had the biggest smile on his face when he saw me. He displayed no signs of fatigue or emotional distress. Why the hell would he hide something like this from me?
That was easy. He was still trying to convince me that we should date. There was no doubt in my mind that he thought ifhe showed any hint of being difficult or complicated, I would use that as an excuse not to see him.
A low groan rumbled through the brain.Idiot. Something like that would never bother me. Hiding shit from me was the deal-breaker. Lying to me about his mental and physical health was a bad fucking thing. Feeling overwhelmed was not.
I shoved to my feet and crossed to the bathroom, where I pissed, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. A shower could wait for now. When I returned to the bedroom, Simon was sitting up in the middle of the bed, his hair standing up in every direction as he blinked wide, slightly confused eyes. I snatched the remote off a nearby table and turned off the rain “music” that had been running on a loop all night. It was something I used to help me fall asleep.
“How’d I get over here?” he asked, pushing a hand into his hair and scratching his scalp.
“I put you in bed last night after you fell asleep. I thought you’d be more comfortable there. It allowed you to stretch out more.”
Simon’s shoulders slumped, and he made a show of giving me a very pouty expression. “But I was comfortable on you. I like the sound of your heart under my ear and the feel of your arms around me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, willing the sudden rush of butterflies back into their cocoons. Simon’s cuteness would not sway me even if I had enjoyed holding him in my arms last night. I would not think about how perfectly he’d fit against me or how empty I’d felt after moving him to the bed.
He twisted for a second to look at the bed before directing those all-too-discerning eyes at me. “You didn’t sleep in the bed with me?”
“No, I was on the couch.”
Simon dropped his head and groaned. “Why? There was plenty of room for both of us. It’s not like I would have pounced on you in your sleep.”
I snorted, a hint of a smirk teasing up one corner of my mouth. “Yeah, I don’t believe that at all.”
“What?” Simon tried to sound innocent, but he couldn’t hold in the wicked grin spreading across his lips or the evil twinkle in his eyes. “You think I would roll over and snuggle close while you were sleeping, slip a hand under your shirt, and run my fingers up your bare chest? Or maybe I’d push my fingers under the waistband of your sleep pants and?—”
