No, notwe. I have no problem. But Taylor is going to have a problem when I break this next info to her.
I hear her rattling around in the kitchen, so I set the wood by the fireplace and go in to get it over with.
“It’s pretty well-stocked,” she says when I walk in. “I’d be able to do more with heat, but we’ll be okay for dinner. Also, the fridge is still cold, so I don’t think the power has been off too long.”
“That’s good. We should probably see if there’s anything we need to stick outside to keep cold until the power is back though.”
“Good idea.” She heads for the fridge.
“Taylor,” I say then stop.
“Yeah?”
“You have to sleep with me.”
She turns. “What?”
“Sorry, that came out wrong. I have to sleep with you.”
“That’s not better.”
“Right. Okay, we have to sleep together.”
She crosses her arms and looks at me. I’ve seen this look on Mrs. Bixby’s face when she’s caught us getting up to no good, like the time she waited for us in their driveway at 3:00 in the morning when we’d snuck out to go toilet paper a friend’s house.
“I’m kidding but not,” I say. “We’ve got plenty of wood for the stove and the fireplace, but without the heater working, it’s only going to be warm if you’re within about ten feet of them. Maybe eight. A lot of it escapes up to the ceiling.”
“Okay, Dr. Physics.”
“My parents’ room has a fireplace, and it’ll stay much warmer in there, so it’s going to be the best place to sleep tonight.”
“Great. I’ll take it.”
“Yeah, me too. That’s the problem. I don’t mind. I think you probably shouldn’t mind, but I bet you do.”
“You know me well.”
“It’s not a big deal, Tay. It’s the smartest way for both of us to stay warm and comfortable if the power doesn’t come back on soon.”
“I live bymyself, Levi. I like my space. I wouldn’t care if you were Sara or Harry Styles, I wouldn’t be thrilled about crawling into bed with you.”
I give her a disbelieving look. “Harry Styles?”
“Fine, I’d be thrilled to crawl into bed with Harry Styles.”
Itskat her. “Shocking.”
“I’ll find you some pearls to clutch.”
“Think of it not so much as crawling into bedwithme asbyme.”
She scowls at me. “Aren’t you the guy that has to sleep in snow forts in subzero temperatures when you’re on an assignment?”
“Yes, but minor detail: that’s necessity. This is not. I will take a bed over the ground every time it’s offered. But, I repeat, this is not a big deal.”
“Make a pallet and sleep by the fireplace in the living room.”
I press my lips together and hope I look annoyed, but I’m fighting a smile, and if I lose, Taylor will probably beat me with a fireplace log. “I agree it’s not a big deal, so why are you making it one? Are you having a hard time resisting me?”
