Page 42 of All Your Tomorrows

“Haven’t you been up here?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that.”

“Not my privacy, just my life?” I sassed.

He moved in front of me, placing his lips to my ear. “I don’t see you complaining.”

Tremors rocked through me and my body hummed like a damn live wire.

He chuckled against my ear. “Get your pajamas on.” He slipped off his sneakers and moved to my bed, pushing my throw pillows to the floor and climbing under my comforter. He dropped his arms over his eyes. “Go ahead. I’m not looking.”

I grabbed my skimpiest pajamas—booty shorts and a tank top—from my drawer and changed into them in the bathroom then brushed my teeth. When I returned to my room, Kyler was on his side with his cheek resting in his palm. “Didn’t trust me not to peek?” he asked as his eyes raked over my body.

I placed my clothes in my laundry basket. Knowing he was watching my every move, I swayed my ass a little more than probably necessary as I moved over to my bed and climbed under the comforter. Kyler rolled me onto my side so I faced him and wrapped his arms around me. “Now this is so much better than the sofa.”

My cheek was pressed into his chest as I relaxed in his arms. That’s when the room began to spin, and I needed to close my eyes so I wouldn’t vomit. He’d been right. If things did move any faster, I may not have remembered any of it. With my ear to his chest, I listened for a heartbeat. And, despite my need to hear one, the only one I heard was my own.

“You’re a good snuggler,” Kyler said, tightening his arms around me in a way that made me feel incredibly safe.

“No one’s ever told me that,” I said.

“That’s a shame. You deserve so much more than you’ve been given.”

“Stop bullshitting me.”

“I’m not. You got stuck with a tool for an ex and an untrustworthy friend. You have spirits barging into your life expecting things from you but you gain nothing from helping them.”

“Not true. I gained you.”

He tightened his arms again and pressed his lips to the top of my head. “I’d give you the world if I could.”

I said nothing, knowing he couldn’t promise me anything. And I’d be a fool to expect him to. I just knew that everything felt right in his arms, and I’d take it for as long as I could get it. If that made me pathetic, then I was pathetic. But I was also happy.

“Good night, Nora.”

“Good night, Kyler.”

“Sweet dreams,” he said.

“They will be,” I said, and those were the last words I remember before sleep pulled my drunken self under.

CHAPTER 12

My phone alarm beeped in some far-off place. I knew it was beeping, but I couldn’t pull myself from the darkness to shut it off.

“Nora?” Kyler whispered.

My head whipped up from his chest, pounding like a son-of-a-bitch. His arms were wrapped around me stopping me from jumping away completely.

“Uh, oh. Did you forget I was here?” he asked.

“I…” I struggled to recall last night. The party. The drinks. Kissing Kyler.

“Is it coming back to you yet?” he asked.

“A little. Did we?”

“Kiss? Yes.”

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