Page 78 of The Bodyguard

“Then let’s just agree that I won’t make you interact with my dirty underwear, and you won’t make me interact with yours. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said, trying to make his face serious. “Agreed.”

But now he had the giggles.

Jack Stapleton had the giggles.

He fell back down on the bed.

“Go,” I said, walking over to him and shoving at his shoulder to push him off the bed. “Go pick up your dirty clothes.”

He resisted for a second, so I pushed harder, and then, on purpose, he gave way fast and I fell onto the floor—landing on my sleeping nest.

Fine with me. It was time for bed, anyway.

“And don’t leave your toothpaste cap off, either,” I said. “What are you, five years old?”

“It’s my bathroom,” he said.

“It’s our bathroom now.”

BY THE TIMEJack came out, I’d already turned off all the lights, and he tripped over me making his way back to his bed.

“Watch it!”

“Sorry.”

He climbed under his covers and hung his head over the side to talk to me like we were having a sleepover.

“You really can sleep in the bed, you know.”

“No, thank you.”

“It’s bothering me that you’re on the ceramic tile.”

“Get over it.”

“We could build, like, a wall of pillows down the middle as a barrier.”

“I’m good.”

“What if my mom walks in and sees you sleeping on the floor?”

I hadn’t seen his mom since we’d been here. “Does your mom just walk into the bedroom of her adult son without knocking?”

“Probably not. Good point.”

“And even if she did, we could just say we were fighting. Which is true.”

“We’re not fighting,” Jack said. “We’re playing.”

“Is that what this is?”

The moon came out from behind the clouds and the room lightened a bit. I could see Jack’s face above me. He was still looking down.

“Thank you,” he said then.

“For what?”

“For coming here and doing this, even though you didn’t want to. And for not drowning today. And for wearing that ridiculous nightgown.”

I turned on my side to ignore him, but I could still feel him watching me.

After a while he said, “I really do have nightmares, you know. Apologies in advance if I wake you.”

“What should I do if you have one?” I asked.

“Just ignore me,” Jack said.

So much easier said than done. “I will absolutely try my best.”

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