Page 122 of Steeling Her
“How do you have the energy for food? I want to just lie down and not move for the day. And night, preferably.” TJ knocks on the door and we wait for someone to answer, hoping they’re home.
Haley opens the door wide and sees TJ. She grins at him and lunges for a hug from him. I see Carter sitting on the sofa with her arm resting on the back of the seat and her chin on top of her arm, staring at me. Once we make eye contact, she starts to grin while trying to hide it, but I know she’s happy to see me the same way I’m happy to see her.
I walk over to her and she stands up to give me a hug of my own. Instead of this, I bend down and sling her tiny body over my shoulder.
“Nick!” She giggles into the back of my shirt. I walk us into her bedroom and shut the door.
“I’m so tired and I just want to fall asleep,” I tell her. She once again laughs as I lay her back on her bed with a small bounce. I feel a sudden growth looking down at her with those gorgeous blue eyes.
“You have your own bed.” She grins up at me, and she couldn’t look cuter even if she tried.
“My bed doesn’t have you to cuddle.” I wink as I climb up her bed and lay down. She’s still at the foot of it, smiling at me. I pat the space beside me and get comfortable.
She rolls her eyes, trying not to smile, but she fails miserably. She crawls up beside me and settles right next to me. I lift my arms up and pull her body into mine so her head is resting on my chest. Our legs are wrapped around each other, holding on to one another. This feels so right. “This is exactly what I needed . . .” I shut my eyes and they’re not opening anytime soon. They’re too heavy to open back up.
I feel her kiss my cheek and smile to myself. Dozing off into a perfectly deep slumber, I dream about different things. Football, family, and Carter. The perfect trinity for me.
***
Carter
He’s snoring softly beside me. He fell asleep instantly when I wrapped my arms around him. He breathes rhythmically. I shift my head back a little to stare at him.
I take in his once sharp features that have now softened. The line between his brow is there from the frown he’s probably worn today. I know he was at football practice, I know he’s super tired too. We were up all night talking last night and neither one of us wanted to hang up.
But I fell asleep while I was still on the phone with him. I woke up with it next to me and the battery dead. I remember that he had called me after he dropped me home from our date. Last night was so special to me, I will always remember it as the most perfect date I’ve ever been on. I’ve read so many romantic novels, and I felt like they didn’t even compare to it. I felt like I was on cloud nine the entire night. When he held me to keep me warm, that’s when I knew that I really liked this guy.
I was so tired last night that I didn’t even realize that I had fallen asleep. Then Danielle banged on the door telling me I was late for my first class. I raced around the room, trying to gather my things, but as soon as I got into the class all I did was fall right back to sleep.
The girl next to me woke me up because she wanted to get out of the row and I was blocking it. As soon as I left the auditorium, I decided I needed to go back and sleep before my next class. That’s what I did, I plugged my phone into the charger and set an alarm to wake me back up so I can attend the next lecture.
Once the alarm went off, I felt a little more awake and walked to my next class with Danielle, who was in the same building but had a different class. I’m glad she was there with me, because we saw Maya and her friends hanging around in the hallways. When they caught our stare, they watched us move like a hawk trying to scare us both, to intimidate us enough to get us to leave. But it wasn’t her building, I’m allowed in it and can freely move around campus. She doesn’t own the place.
She has no right to make us both feel like we don’t belong here. She’s a horrible person, and everyone is now realizing that side of her. People have backed away from her, even the football team, who greets me every time they see me. I think that’s from Nick’s influence more than anything.
Once that lecture was finished, I came home and met Haley in the dorm. She was getting super excited about going on a date with TJ tonight and was squealing every five seconds when she found “the perfect outfit.” I sat in the living room with my laptop, half watching TV, trying to make some notes from the class I fell asleep in.
She was running around like a headless chicken having a panic attack every five minutes like she always does when he asks her out on a date. It’s cute, she likes to make everything perfect for him and her. She’s so into the relationship; she has been since the beginning and it’s cute to watch her fluster over him.
Right now, I can hear them mumble to each other through the walls. I know they’re most likely doing the same as me and Nick, just laying with each other and talking. But the big meaty guy next to me has fallen asleep and he looks so adorable.
I decide I’m not going to fall asleep because I won’t be able sleep tonight, so instead, I try to reach across to get my book that’s behind him. I inch closer and closer, trying not to wake him up. He looks like he needs a good sleep today, and I don’t want to ruin that for him. I push my body closer to his, allowing my fingers to reach the tip of my book.Almost got it.
Then he stirs around beside me and flips onto his back. I feel two strong hands pull me across. My entire body is on top of him. His bulging biceps wrap around my waist holding me in place and I start to giggle quietly.
“I like this better,” he mumbles to himself, and I wonder if he’s actually awake right now. I don’t move because I’m so comfy, until I realize my lids are starting to close on their own and I snap them back open.
I can’t fall asleep again or I won’t be able to tonight and I’ll be worse tomorrow. I reach over and grab my book again, this time actually getting a hold of it. I try to roll myself off him, but his grip tightens around me. I laugh silently to myself and try to do it again but he holds me close to him.
“Stop trying to get away from me.” He laughs and I join the party.
“I’m not, I’m trying not to fall back to sleep, actually. I won’t sleep properly tonight and you’re too comfy. I’m going to read, I’ll still be next to you though,” I convince him to adjust his grip. I shuffle up the bed and lean my back against the headboard. His eyes blink open again, watching me.
“I don’t like the position you’ve got going on right now.” He points his finger at my body and trails it up and down. Compromising with him, I pat my legs for him to lay his head on but he shakes his head.
He moves his head to my stomach and rests it there, cupping his large hand around the side of my waist. I laugh, making his head bounce up and down. I stroke his hair with my hand while the other rests on his neck, holding up the book on the last page I read. He’s humming at the small touch as I stroke his hair with my fingers.
I let my mind wander while I listen to him softly snore once again, his finger twitching every so often on my waist. Sometimes, he traces small circles and patterns on the material of my top.
