Page 101 of Puck Happens

Okay, we could do this. I was going to shift out from under her and gently lower her head to the couch. If she woke up, we would just go to bed, and forget any stupid protest she made about needing to get home. It was too late for that.

If she didn’t wake up, I would just snag a pillow from the guest bedroom, and the duvet, and throw it on top of her. She could sleep out there and I would go back to bed.

The first part of the mission was easy.

I was off the couch and she was still sound asleep. She definitely needed a pillow and a blanket since she wouldn’t have my body heat to keep her warm.

Or, if she was this passed out, I could just pick her up and carry her to bed with me. She’d ultimately be warmer and more comfortable with me.

Except she didn’t like to be picked up without her consent. It was a trigger for her. If she woke up, while I was carrying her, she might freak out. What if I dropped her? Hurt her?

No, the smartest thing to do was get her a pillow and a blanket and call it a night. I turned to go grab them from my guest room when she stirred.

“Whereareyougoing?” she said, all in one sleepy mumble.

“Bed,” I whispered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

She lifted her arm, her eyes shut. Was this…? Was she asking me to carry her?

Gently, reverently, I bent down and got my hands under her. Given the amount of weight I lifted in the gym, she was nothing to pick up.

Despite the bread pudding.

The second I had her in my arms and I was standing straight, she curled into me. Buried her face into my chest and let out a soft sigh as she fell back asleep.

“I would never drop you. Ever.”

Her faith…her trust…it was humbling. Intimate. More important than anything we’d done together. More important than half the shit I thought was important before this moment.

And that was terrifying AF.

20

The Next Morning

Liv

Ugh.The alarm on my phone was going off in the other room. I must have left it…

My eyes snapped open. I wasn’t in my room. Or my apartment.

Milky gray sunlight crept through the curtains in Dillon’s bedroom.

So much for all my tough talk yesterday. I’d been about as firm as Jello every time Dillon suggested anything else that would allow us to spend more time with each other.

Shit. I still didn’t have my car.

Dillon rolled over and threw his arm over my hips, hauling me into the nest of his body. Like I was his very own snuggle pillow.

He was in his underwear, but I was fully dressed.

Huh.

A night together without having sex. Why did that feel like a weird milestone? Like we were a couple. Like we were friends.

I slipped out from his arms and made my way to the bathroom. He’d given me a spare toothbrush the other night, so I used that again and when I was done I dropped it in the cup where he put his own brush.

Something about that sight. About the toothbrushes in the same cup made my stomach do weird things. Weird things I didn’t have time to think about. I washed my face, put my hair up into a ponytail, gave my armpits a good sniff and decided they’d be fine until I took a shower after the workout with Novek.

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