My heart races even faster. “You do?”
He nods, a hint of sadness crossing his features. His hand drops from my cheek, running through his hair instead. “Shouldn’t have said that,” he murmurs to himself.
“Why not? I liked it.”
He glances at me, his eyes softening as it drifts down to my lips. They part involuntarily and—
“Ride’s over.”
I lift my head, realizing our pod is back on the ground as the doors open. Untangling myself from Chris’s embrace, I turn towards him. But he’s already rising from his seat, and walking out.
“You’re going to break a leg,” Chris whispers urgently.
“I’m fine,” I mutter, though I’m anything but. How does he manage to do this every night? Climbing through my window while I’m completely wasted isn’t exactly working out smoothly.
“Put your foot…Christ. Just let me help you.”
“I’ve got it,” I insist, but Chris grips the pipe outside my window with one hand and hoists me onto the window ledge with the other.
“Are you okay? Jeez, that bear’s huge.”
“I know,” I grumble, struggling to push the oversized white teddy bear that Chris won for me at the carnival inside my window. “Why the hell did I pick this thing?”
“Because with you, it’s go big or go home,” he replies with a chuckle. “Just get inside.”
“I’m trying,” I whisper-hiss. “This damn bear won’t… Got it,” I announce as I finally manage to shove the bear inside.
Swinging my legs over the ledge, I shuffle closer and attempt to smoothly land on my feet. But I end up falling flat on my face.
“Jesus, Gabi,” I hear Chris sigh when he swings his legs over my window ledge. “You’re wasted.”
“I’m not,” I protest weakly, but the way my legs refuse to cooperate tells me he’s right.
His chuckle warms me from the inside out as he pulls me up from the floor, smoothing my hair back. “You definitely are,” he says, his smile so beautiful that I wonder how I ever looked at him before without feeling this flutter inside me.
“I’m not,” I repeat. “I’m just… so… tired,” I mumble, my eyelids fluttering closed.
He chuckles again, and I feel his lips press against my forehead before he lifts me up into his arms and places me down on the bed.
I crack open one eye, seeing Chris gazing down at me with that soft smile on his lips. “Do you mind if I stay over tonight?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head, settling myself on the edge of the bed. “I love having you here,” I admit.
Chris nods, loosening his tie. I take a moment to appreciate how good he looks tonight. The only other time I saw him in a suit was at my mom’s funeral, but my mind wasn’t really present then.
Tonight, though, I’m soaking in every detail.
I want to ask him for the pictures we took in the photo booth, so I can relive those moments, but I don’t want to stop looking at him. I couldn’t stop staring at him in the photo booth either. We were squeezed together, me sitting on his lap, both of us drunk out of our minds. I held his face in my hands and just stared into his brown eyes. I wanted so badly to lean in and kiss him. But then the flash went off, snapping us back to reality, and the moment was over.
He chuckles, glancing at the corner of my room at the pile of clothes I have thrown. “You still have my old baseball cap?” he asks.
“Of course,” I say with a shrug. “I told you I was keeping it.”
He scoffs. “I’m going to want it back at some point,” he says, arching a brow as he pulls off his suit jacket.
“Never, Hudson,” I say, seeing him smirk as he bends down to untie his shoes. I really love having him here. I love how comfortable he is in my room. How whenever he’s here, it feels like home. I tilt my head at him. “Why do we never hang out at your place?”
He snaps his head towards me, frowning. “Why do you ask?”
