Page 69 of The Two of Us

He opens his mouth to speak.

“Will you stay?” I blurt out.

His eyes widen at my request.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s just… Otso seems really shaken up, and he knows you so well and—”

Ambrose shuts me up by entwining his large fingers with mine, pulling me into the house. Heat engulfs me as he leads us up the stairs into the room I now occupy and I almost ask him how he knows which room to go to until I remember the night he tucked me into bed after my bar escapade. My face burns with residual embarrassment.

He stops at the foot of my bed, kicking off his shoes and then he lifts his shirt over his head and lies on the left side, I almost choke.

“What are you doing?” I squeak.

He fluffs my spare pillow beneath his head. “Going to sleep.”

“Um…”

“Come,” he says, patting the space next to him. “Sleep.”

When I don’t move, he lets out a soft sigh. “It’s just sleeping, Mouse.”

“Don’t call me that,” I mumble as I kick off my shoes and climb into bed.

Thanks to the full-size bed and Ambrose’s enormous frame, our bodies are separated by only a few inches. We both lie on our sides and I can feel the breaths that enter and exit his body.

His eyes are closed and he looks peaceful for someone who’s just kicked an intruder’s ass. And intruder who dated his ex. The ex of his ex. Thinking about it gives me a migraine.

“What?” His eyes are still closed. He must feel me staring.

“Thank you.”

His eyes flutter open and he holds my gaze. He lifts his hand and gently brushes a stray curl from my face. His eyes drop to my mouth and I swear he leans forward an inch. I hold my breath and close my eyes as the smell of mint and linen washes across my face.

The pad of his thumb sweeps across my lip and my heart beats in a staccato rhythm.

I lean forward.

“Sleep, Mouse,” he whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth. And I know in that moment he sees the past fall like a veil over my eyes because he says, “Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise.”

I let out the breath trapped in my chest and for the first time in my life, I do exactly what Ambrose King tells me to do. The thing I haven’t been able to do without the help of alcohol or a podcast or a really long movie.

I sleep.

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