He tucked my hair behind my ears with both hands, caressing the strands until his fingertips reached the ends. A shivery breath left his lips as they met my forehead and then my cheek. “Goodnight, Maggie.”
And with that, he walked past me and up the stairs, leaving me with four million questions and the desire to jump into his bed and figure out what the hell we wanted.
I reluctantly dragged myself into my room to change into my pajamas and turned on my bathroom faucet to wash my face. I squinted my eyes to keep the water from invading them before noticing something strange-looking about the toilet. Either the flushing level didn’t work or…
I screamed bloody murder as a hiss and two beady eyes emerged from the porcelain bowl, and I jumped backward, knocking myself into the door and falling to the ground. Scrambling to get up a few times—and bruising my shins along the way—I slammed the bathroom door shut and burst into Jack’s bedroom, not bothering to knock. My heart was racing frantically, and catching Jack in nothing but his gray sweatpants doing pushups on the floor didn’t help.
“Jack! Jack! Come into my bathroom right now!” I screeched.
“Woah, woah, Mags. What’s going on?” He asked, too calm for the current situation. His muscles flexed as he brought himself to stand, towering over me.
“Jack, there is asnakein my toilet!”
“What?”
“Yes!” I cried. “I can do anything but snakes. Can youpleasehelp me get it out?”
Jack dashed past me and into my bathroom to retrieve the unwanted visitor. Because I was in no state of mind to do anything sane, I found myself crawling under the covers ofJack’s perfectly-made bed and hiding until he returned. I didn’t have a reason. It just felt safe here. My own bed hadn’t even been slept in.
Though he most likely had not even touched the bed yet, the covers still felt warm and smelled so…Jack. I nuzzled my cheek against the pillow I slept on the night before and closed my eyes, attempting to slow my heart rate. A few deep breaths and adjustments later, I was almost completely relaxed. The door to Jack’s room creaked open, and I slid my head under the covers so my hair wasn’t visible.
“Mags,” Jack chuckled. “Snake’s gone.”
“Don’tsay that word in this house ever again,” my muffled voice warned from beneath the blankets. Another chuckle followed the weight of the mattress dipping.
No. No, no, no.Jack wasnotsliding into bed with me. Not again.
“What are you doing?”
“Just getting into bed.” His voice was too normal.Thiswas not normal. Why had I even crawled into his bed in the first place?
“But I’m in here.”
“Do you want me to take your bed since you’ve gotten so comfy?” he joked, but I seriously considered taking him up on his offer. His sheets felt so good against my skin.
“Mmm,” was my only reply. I deepened my position on the mattress but froze when I felt Jack getting under the covers with me. “Jack…”
“You’re in my bed, Maggie. If you want to sleep alone, go sleep in your bed.” The rumble of his voice made me want to stay so badly.
“I’m mad at you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” I absolutely was not.
“You almost kissed me earlier. That tells me all that I need to know.”
Shit. I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass. Screw him and his knack for using my actions against me.
Rough fingertips grazed my shoulder, sending gooseflesh to the sensitive area. My back faced Jack, so I couldn’t see what he was doing, but my body was entirely aware of him touching me. “Did you wash your hands after touching that snake?”
Another chuckle left his mouth. “Yes, I did. No dirty hands here.”
I swore I heard a “yet” buried under there somewhere. Maybe it was just in my head, but God, did I want to comply. “Good,” I whispered.
What was going on with me? I felt like a disastrous mess. Like a manila folder spilled onto the floor with its contents scattered everywhere. I was upset with the man in bed with me one minute and craving his body on mine the next. What I wouldn’t give to feel him justonemore time. Fuck, I was everywhere and nowhere in my head right now.
“Maggie, I–”
