Page 56 of The Reluctant Reaper
She opened the tower door, took care to creep past Gray’s (closed! yes!) door, then trudged up the stairs to her room. She flung the door open with a sigh which was immediately cut off by her yowl of surprise.
“Jeez, finally,” Gray said. He was wearing what she instantly recognized...
Oh no.
... as one of his sleeping outfits.
No no no no.
Flannel shorts, a T-shirt (Jim Gaffigan’sBarely Alivetour), and hisShrekslippers.
“What are you doing up here?” she cried.
He had the complete gall to look surprised. “You wanted me to sleep with you tonight.”
“And you came?”
Even more surprised: “I said, didn’t I?”
“Well... yes... but then...”
“‘But then’ nothing. Don’t worry, I grabbed some extra blankets since I sleep clammy, and I saved some midnight lefse for you.”
“My mother sent that up here for me!”
“There’s still plenty here.”
“Not your call!”
“Don’t you dare shame my stress eating!” Gray sighed and ran his hand through his brutally short-but-coming-in-nicely hair. “This is a lot of shrieking, even for you. Is something wrong?”
“What?”
“It’s about the kiss, isn’t it?”
She was so humiliated/furious/confused, all she could do for a few seconds was gulp like a walleye flopping on a dock. “Of—of course it’s about the kiss, you beautiful imbecile!”
Gray shrugged. “Well, you’ve got a lot on your plate this weekend. I’m not so egocentric to think I’m your biggest problem right now.”
“You idiot, you’ve never been any sort of problem, never mind my biggest, now get out.”
“Nope.”
“Gray!”
“How many times have we crashed in the same bed together? Five? Ten?”
“Twenty-six.” The blood rushed to her face as she realized that, quite unconsciously, she’d been keeping track.
“... Twenty-six, okay. So if I leave now, it’ll get weird.”
“It’llgetweird?”
“Weirder,” he amended. He crossed the room to her, and she had to fight the ridiculous, simultaneous urge to back away and step closer. He took her hands and looked at her, really looked. And she couldn’t pull her gaze from his. Couldn’t even yank her hands out of his grasp.When did Gray get magical hypnotic cobra powers?“Look, Amara, I get it.”
“That makes none of us.”
“You had a crap day, one significantly more awful than I thought, and were forced to live through your worst nightmare, and turned to me in a moment of extreme?—”
