“You’re tired.”
“I’m fine.” He kisses me again, refusing to give in to the fatigue. “I need to talk to you—things I need to tell you—” His eyes are heavy-lidded and unfocused, like he’s drunk and stoned at the same time.
I comb his hair back with my fingers. “Let me run down and get you some chocolate.”
Drowsily, he shakes his head. “I’ll get it.”
“No way.” I kiss him softly. “You’ll fall asleep in the hall and some poor girl will come out and find you andscream her head off.”
He chuckles and detains me for one more kiss. “Okay. But be quick.”
I dig my wallet out of my backpack and hurry out into the hall. Someone’s having a party in a room near the stairs, but otherwise, the hallways are deserted. In the basement, I dash past the laundry room to the alcove that houses four different vending machines.
I should’ve asked Leo what he likes best. There’s too much to choose from. I opt for three classic candy bars with a maximum chocolate-to-filler ratio, and jog back up the stairs. Before I even reach my door, my gut tells me Leo’s asleep, and sure enough, when I enter the room, I find him sprawled on his back, his long limbs and large frame consuming the small bed.
I drop the candy on my desk and debate what to do. He’d probably want me to wake him. A little chocolate and he’d have the energy to talk, to tell me those “things” I’m worried I don’t want to hear. But there’s tomorrow and tomorrow night, the next day, and the day after that. A whole future of talking. And kissing. And more.
So I leave him there on my bed. He looks so peaceful and beautiful, with his features softened and his hair tossed across his forehead. Otherworldly, like a prince in a fairy tale. One of his hands rests on his chest, while the other is smooshed between his hip and the wall. It’ll ache when he wakes, but I don’t dare move him. Like I could anyway. He’s at least 180 pounds of dead weight.
Fully clothed, I stretch out on Liv’s bed. That way, if she comes home before either Leo or I wake, she’ll know there wasn’t any hanky-panky going on. I’m not ready to share with her what happened between Leo and me tonight. I haven’t fully wrapped my brain around it myself. All I know is that we’ve crossed the line. The man lying on my bed right now is more than a friend. And it feels like that’s how it was always supposed to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I come down hardafter lying awake for almost an hour, alternating between gazing at Leo and trying to shake off the last of the energy I drew from him. Hours later, I stir to a soft kiss and his murmured goodbye, but I’m too drowsy to respond or to get up and go to my own bed. It’s not until Liv’s keys rattle in the door around 11:00 a.m. that I fully wake up.
She stumbles into the room looking rumpled and under-rested. One black brow shoots up when she sees me. “What on earth are you doing in my bed?”
I rub my bleary eyes and sit up. I could lie to her. It would be so much easier.There was a spider in my bedmight work, but it doesn’t explain why I’m fully dressed. So I say matter-of-factly, like I have nothing to hide, “Because Leo fell asleep on mine.”
She whirls around like she’s going to catch him still lying there. When she faces me again, both eyebrows are up by her hairline. “He fell asleeponyour bed?”
“Yep.”
“Without you?”
“Yep.”
“Betts—”
“We were just hanging out and talking. And then he fell asleep.” I shrug. “I didn’t have the heart to wake him up.” I swing my feet to the floor and stretch while she watches and rubs her forehead. My strategy worked. I’ve given just enough information to confuse her; she doesn’t even know what to ask next.
Like the well-bred young woman I am, I pull up her comforter and fluff her pillows, leaving her bed in better shape than I found it. “How was your night? What did y’all do?”
She shrugs. “Oh, you know, the usual.”
“Who’s the Smash Bros champion?”
“They didn’t play Smash, they played COD, and the champion would be Cole.” She kicks her shoes into her wardrobe. “God, I need a shower.”
“How’s Braden?” I’m hoping there’s news about her being Sweetheart, but I don’t want to bring it up if there isn’t.
“Fine. We’re going out tonight with Trevor and Jenna.”
“Good,” I say. I’m happy for her, even though I can tell by her tone that she wants Trevor and Jenna to be Zander and me.
She glances at me and sighs. “Don’t get mad at me, but I have to tell you—it was so weird last night without you there.”
I want to tell her it was weird for me too, but it wasn’t. I hardly thought about O-Chi all night.
