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Liam smiled. “Yeah. My thoughts exactly.” He had such a beautiful smile and I’d always liked the way it lit up his entire face. “We should celebrate.”

“I promised I’d go out with Sarah and Bree tonight, but how about this weekend?” We were still standing face to face. Liam had his arms wrapped around me and my palms were resting on his chest.

“That would be perfect.” Liam raised one of his hands up to cup my cheek as he gazed at me. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. It felt good. Really good. “Where are you headed now?” he asked.

I fluttered my eyes open but kept my face in his palm. “Honestly, it’s going to sound super lame, but I was going to go back to my apartment and take a nap. Since Art History was canceled for the afternoon, I’m done with classes for the day. If I’m going out with Bree and Sarah, it’s going to be a long night; I better rest up while I have the chance. Plus, if I’m completely honest, I was so nervous about today, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Liam gently ran his palm down my face and his thumb across my lips before reaching for my hand. “Can I walk you back to your apartment?”

I smiled at Liam. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

My apartment was relatively close to the art building, so it wasn’t very long until we were standing in front of my door. Liam leaned against the building as I fished my keys out of my backpack. “Congratulations again, Anna. You worked hard and you deserve to be a part of the Spring Art Show.”

I put my key in the lock and gave it a turn before looking over at him. “Thank you. You too. Does this mean I get to see your mysterious painting now?” I asked with a laugh.

Liam got a mischievous grin on his face as he reached out and pulled me closer. “Not until the show. I really hope you like it.” He gave me a soft kiss.

I smiled back as I raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s only a few more weeks. I guess I can be good and wait.” Liam chuckled and I turned to open the door. I was standing in the entryway when a thought occurred to me. “Hey, Liam?”

“Yeah?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Do you…do you want to come in and lay down with me? I mean it’s not super exciting, and I totally understand if you already have plans since class being canceled and having a free Friday afternoon is a rare occurrence, and…” I was starting to ramble and feel awkward, but luckily Liam cut me off.

“I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Liam stepped forward closing the small distance between us. He brushed my hair back from my face before kissing me softly. There it was…that feeling again. The same one I’d felt earlier with him.

“Just so you know, taking a nap is not some type of weird code for going in there and doing anything other than sleeping,” I said quietly.

Liam laughed. “Never thought it was.”

We walked into the apartment and back to my bedroom where we took off our coats and backpacks. We laid on top of the comforter with our clothes on as I put some blankets from the foot of the bed on top of us. Liam pulled me into him so my back was resting against his front. He wrapped his arms around me and, in all honesty, it felt good. Really good.

I snuggled up against Liam and could already feel my eyes starting to grow heavy as he whispered, “Sweet dreams, Anna.” I felt Liam kiss the top of my head as I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 14

I’m Buying You a Drink

“OH! HEY! YIKES! I’M so sorry! I should’ve knocked!”

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in that weird not-asleep-but-not-fully-awake place and I had no idea what was happening. I felt someone next to me move slightly. There were strong arms wrapped tightly around me and I was pressed firmly up against the body they were attached to. I was in bed. I was in bed with someone...

“It’s OK,” a husky sleep-filled voice from behind me said.

“Oh, good lord!” the voice from the doorway said. Sarah. That was Sarah talking, my sleepy brain suddenly started firing up. “You have your clothes on! Thank you! That only makes this moderately awkward, not full-on I’ll-never-be-able-to-look-at-you-the-same-way awkward.”

Liam! I was napping with Liam. My brain started to wake up a little more. Holy shit! I was in my bed sleeping with Liam. He was still pressed up tightly against me and I could feel him laugh at what Sarah was saying.

“What time is it?” I whispered groggily.

“It’s almost five o’clock. That’s why I came in. Bree and I wanted to grab dinner before going dancing, but if you have other plans…” Sarah raised her eyebrow as she trailed off and I could feel myself blush.

Liam shifted behind me before I felt his arms slowly start to let go. “Actually, I should be going. I don’t think either of us intended to sleep quite this long, and I have a few things I still need to get done today.” His voice was deep and groggy.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Sarah said, backing out of the doorway. “Bree is on her way home, and we’re planning on leaving in about an hour.”

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