Page 98 of So Much More
“We can, and we will.”
I readjust my position so I can wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly in my embrace. He rests his head against mine and strokes my hair without saying a word. We stay in this position until well after I feel all the tension leave his body. Then I stand and hold my hand out to him. “Come on. Let’s get ready for bed.”
We brush our teeth side by side, and he leaves me to change into my armadillo pajamas he loves so much. When I come back out, he’s lying in my bed in my brother’s sweatpants. The sight of him shirtless in my bed is nearly my undoing, but this is not the night to do more than sleep.
I turn off the light, climb in next to him, and curl against his side with my head resting on his shoulder and my arm wrapped securely around his middle. He pulls the sheet over us as I try not to think about the fact that my cheek and arm are touching his warm, bare skin.
“You okay?” I ask him.
“I will be.”
I tilt my head up to look at him in the darkness. “Anything else I can do to help?”
He pulls me a little closer against him. “You’re doing exactly what I need you to do.”
forty-three
Wendy and I didn’t kiss at all tonight, but shockingly I don’t care. We took a giant step forward in our relationship, and that’s more important than any amount of kissing. The woman I love is sleeping soundly in my arms in her bed, which would have been unimaginable to either of us a short time ago.
Wendy snorts lightly, and I smile. Even her sleeping noises are adorable.
“You’re really here?” she mumbles. “Not a dream?”
“I’m here.” I caress her arm with my thumb. “Go back to sleep.”
“Mmmm.” Her fingers flex into my chest, and her breathing immediately evens out again.
I doze off and on all night, waking every time Wendy moves or makes a noise, but I don’t mind. Someday, Lord willing, I’ll be used to her sleeping against me, but for now I want to enjoy every second of it.
When her clock radio alarm goes off, Rick Astley is singing “Never Gonna Give You Up,” which makes me smile through my morning haze. I should despise this song, since I’ve let Wendy down and made her cry. But it’s also a reminder that I plan to do everything I can to not hurt her again, and I definitely never intend to give her up.
“Off,” Wendy demands. “Turn it off.”
“But I like this song,” I protest, making no move to disentangle us from each other and shut off the alarm.
“Don’t care if I never hear it again. Annoying song.”
I chuckle. “Your spider-monkey ways have rendered my limbs useless, so you’re going to have to turn it off yourself.”
“Don’t wanna let go.” Her moving lips tickle my chest. “I like being a monkey.”
“Then you’re going to have to put up with Rick.”
“Fine.”
After a few seconds, I say, “It’s driving you crazy, isn’t it?”
“Mmhm.”
“There’s an easy way to fix that problem.”
She groans and pulls herself off me, but as soon as she hits the snooze button, she’s back.
I sift my fingers through her hair. “We need to get up.”
“No.”
“The next time I stay over, I’m turning Patrick’s picture around to face the wall. I feel like he’s staring at us.”
