Page 84 of Fighting Fate (Granton University 1)

He was so Logan, and she was so relieved he was here.

“I should probably go.” His blue eyes looked worried as he backed away from her.

“What? No!” She launched herself off the bed and clutched him close, clinging shamelessly. “Don’t leave me now.”

“Okay, okay.” He patted her hands, reassuring her. “I’ll stay. No problem.” But his gaze strayed toward Mariah’s side of the room. “Do you think your roommate would mind if I crashed on her mattress?”

The idea of him anywhere near Mariah’s bed sent irrational jealousy through her system. In fact, the idea of him anywhere right now, except wrapped around her, sounded downright intolerable.

“I promise I won’t punch you again in my sleep,” she blurted.

His eyes flared wide with surprise. Then he sputtered out a laugh. “Paige, you can punch me in your sleep as much as you need to. I just thought you wanted me out of your bed. I mean, I scared you and caused you to have a nightmare by being beside you, making you think I was him.”

She frowned. “No.” Shaking her head, she tugged him closer. “No, you didn’t cause the nightmare. I swear. He caused it. Not you. I don’t think of any of that when you’re holding me. So come back to bed. Make it go away again. Please.”

He shook his head, looking amused. “You don’t have to beg, you know, because honestly, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Good.” She tugged on him harder.

As they settled back on the mattress with him spooned on his side behind her, she curled up her knees so he could do the same.

He rested his face by the back of her neck, his breath stirring her hair with a pleasant spearmint warmth.

“Do you want the lights off?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Okay.” He relaxed his muscles, and all was right in the world again. Snuggled into him, she closed her eyes and sleep immediately claimed her.

At some point during the night, she managed to wiggle around on the two foot of mattress space she had until he was trapped between her and the wall and she was facing him. Though they were both still fully clothed, their legs had intertwined so their knees bent in toward each other to stack his leg, then hers, then his, and hers again.

Paige blinked against the sunlight pouring through the closed window blinds and untangled their limbs before she sat up.

She glanced down at Logan still asleep on her mattress, and drank in the sight he made first thing in the morning. With the way his lashes rested against his cheek and the start of a beard stubbling his jaw, he was art. Her gaze drifted down to wide shoulders and the crook of his elbow where he bent it to rest his face on one hand. Slim waist, long legs—he really was beautiful. When she reached his feet, she was startled to find he still wore his shoes.

Paige was tempted to tug them off for him but was too afraid to wake him, so she quietly slipped off the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. Once finished in there, she washed her hands back in the bedroom and was halfway through brushing her teeth, when she checked on him in the mirror to find him exactly as she left him, but with this eyes opened as he watched her.

She whirled around, the bristles of her toothbrush still scrubbing on her molars.

“G’morning.” His raspy voice was just as appealing as the rest of him.

“Hi,” she muffled out, her face heating as she turned back to the sink, spit, and quickly rinsed, unnerved by the fact he was watching her take care of her morning ablutions.

As she filled her cup and drank some water, he asked, “Can I have some of that?”

Her gaze met his in the mirror mid-swallow. He still lay tucked up on his side on her mattress, but his alert eyes looked as bright and blue as a cloudless sky.

Paige lowered the cup from her mouth. It was three-quarters full so she turned to him and shuffled the few feet to the bed to hand it to him.

“Thanks.” His warm fingers brushed hers as he accepted, sitting up when he did so.

She watched his strong, tanned throat work as he swallowed. Feeling the need to fidget as she stood beside the bed, she sat next to him on the mattress. And suddenly he seemed a lot closer, and the closeness actually comforted her.

With a refreshed sigh, Logan leaned sideways to set the empty cup on Mariah’s desktop. Then he studied Paige, his lips tipped in a sleepy smile. Lifting his fingers, he sifted a few strands of hair away from her cheek. “Your bruise is darker.” He didn’t touch the offended area, just studied it from sympathetic eyes. “It almost matches the one your dad gave you on the other side.”

She caught sight of his knuckles as he moved his hand back. “You’re a little banged up yourself.”

He looked down and frowned. “It looks like I’m the one who hit you.”

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