I glance up, blinking. Talk about getting way ahead of myself. Not sure how I got from kisses to my life plans.
“Your turn.”
“Right.” I stare at the game and realize I don’t want to play it. That awful feeling of praying a marble doesn’t drop and wreck everything mirrors how I feel inside. I study the game carefully, then reach over and pull out a stick, satisfied when a loud clatter of marbles follows.
“Ooh, not a good move, Tay. I don’t think you can win now.” He’s stretched out on his stomach, chin resting on his hands as he studies the remaining sticks.
“You’re right. And honestly, I’m tired. Let’s put this away, and I’ll make a pallet so I can sleep.”
“It’s only 6:30,” he says, his tone surprised.
“Driving makes me sleepy. My mom said she’d drive me in the car for an hour when I was a baby to get me to sleep. Probably still works.”
“Okay.” He sits up and starts taking the game apart.
We work quietly, and the whole thing is boxed in less than a minute. He gets up and puts it away while I tug the blanket basket closer to find the thickest ones for my bedroll.
“Are you really going to sleep in here on a wood floor when you could be in a bed near a fireplace?”
“Are you offering to trade?” I look up at him, faking delight.
“You wish,” he says. “I told you, I have to rough it enough that I’m going to take a soft bed anytime. If you didn’t have another choice, I’d take your spot in a heartbeat. But you do. And you’re being weird about it.”
“I told you, I’m way too used to my space.”
I feel his eyes on me as I layer the blankets to make a soft base, but I don’t look up. Finally, he sighs. “All right. I’ll be in the warm room with the comfortable bed if you need anything.”
“I won’t.”
I swear I can almost hear him shaking his head as he walks out.
It’s already been a long day, and I fall asleep fast. If only Istayedasleep.
I have no idea what time it is when my eyes blink open to discover that the fire has dwindled to a few weak embers. I sit up and groan, my body letting me know it does not appreciate being put to bed on a hard floor.
I shuffle to the bathroom using my cell phone flashlight to shine the way, and that’s when I learn it’s 2 AM. When I return from the bathroom, I freeze halfway across the living room as I register something else: there is snow outside.
I turn off the flashlight so it won’t reflect in the floor-to-ceiling windows, but even in the near blackness, I can’t mistake the white mounds pressing against the glass. I hurry over, my stomach sinking as the sound of wind picks up closer to the glass. I peer out at an endless blanket of white. A blanket of white who knows how thick. A blanket of white that will only grow deeper as fat flakes drive down faster than I’ve ever seen snow fall. This is completely different from the gentle snowfalls we get in Creekville.
I’m freezing away from the fire, and I hurry back to it, shivering, but I don’t sit down. I can’t stand the thought of trying to get comfortable on that hard floor. I glance in the direction of the hallway leading to Levi’s bedroom. His fireplace. A bed. With a mattress. A bed that is not the floor. A bed where I’m sure Levi is fast asleep and won’t mind at all if I rest my achy bones on the other half.
I scoop up a pillow and one of the thicker quilts and pad down the hall to his room, easing open the door. Warmth billows out. This is definitely the right call.
I slip inside and shut the door behind me, making sure I close it as quietly as a teenager sneaking out of her house on a school night. The floorboards stay silent beneath my socks as I pad over to the bed. Levi is sleeping on his side, a comfortable-looking mound beneath a thin coverlet. I’m glad I brought the quilt with me.
It takes me nearly a full minute in comical slow motion to settle onto the mattress, hugging the edge to leave him as much room as possible. Finally, I’m nestled, satisfied that no one has ever slipped into a bed with greater stealth in the history of the world.
My head hits the pillow, and my eyes close in bliss. Beds are a miraculous invention. How is it possible that I forgot this for even a single second to choose the hard floor? Foolish mortal.
I draw a deep breath and let it out in a quiet sigh. This right here? Clinging to the edge of a mattress in the middle of the night at a cabin where I’m stranded? Absolute luxury.
No question I’m an idiot for being so stubborn earlier. Sharing a big old bed with Levi is so not a big deal.
Chapter Eleven
Levi
Iwakeuptoa warm, pliant woman draped over my body.
