“I’m still working on it. These things don’t move as fast as—”
“On television,” I finished. “I know.”
Calvin turned around as he pulled his shirt off, his pale and freckled chest there for me to see but not touch. He tossed it into the hamper. “You don’t mind if we go to bed, do you? I’m… kind of tired.”
I remembered finding him asleep on the stairs, waiting for me. I got the impression that Calvin didn’t easily admit to any sort of weakness, even beingkind of tired.
“Sure.” I grabbed my bag. “I’ll go use the bathroom.” I left him half-naked, most regretfully, and shut the door behind me. I changed into some dark-colored checkered pajama pants and a presumably black T-shirt. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and took out my red-tinted contacts before leaving.
Calvin stood in the middle of the room, scrolling on his phone. He still didn’t have a shirt on, but had whatlookedlike Christmas-themed pajama pants on. Maybe my vision was really failing me there.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Hmm. Yeah, just checking a few e-mails.” He turned it off and set it down on the nightstand before going into the bathroom. He came back out a moment later with his toothbrush hanging from his mouth. Calvin moved by me as he returned to his phone.
He smelled good.
He looked good.
He was definitely wearing pajama pants with little Santa men and reindeer on them.
“You look quite jolly,” I teased.
He glanced up, brushing absently. “What?” he asked around the toothbrush before looking down at himself. “Oh.”
“Waiting on something important?”
“I’ve been requesting research on theTamerlanebook,” he mumbled. “Haven’t gotten it yet.”
“I’m going to the library tomorrow. I have an appointment to inspect the copy ofTamerlanethat they have.”
Calvin turned to me in surprise.
“I thought it’d be useful.”
“Did you plan on telling me?” he asked after taking the toothbrush from his mouth.
I shrugged. “Probably.”
He frowned and walked back to the bathroom. “You’re not a cop.”
“I don’t need to be a cop to go to the damn library.”
When Calvin returned, he stepped close enough that the smell of mint and man made my head spin. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“Fine, whatever.” I wasn’t going to fight about a trip to the library. I was really only half listening to him anyway, not that it could be helped when he stood so close that I could count his freckles. I reached out to touch the fine, light-colored hair on his chest and followed it down.
Calvin reached under my chin and lifted it. “Go to bed.”
“Uh, are you coming?”
“I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Cal, you’re not sleeping on the floor in your own home. Come on.” I tugged him to the bed, threw the covers back, and slid over to the side against the wall. “See? Plenty of space.”
“Fine.” He walked over to the front door to check the lock and shut the lights off.
I leaned over to put my glasses on the nightstand, then turned onto my side, back to Calvin as he silently climbed into bed. It took all of my self-control not to curl up beside him, but he’d been firm in his decision with me, and neither of us were doing so well when it came to no more touching and nicknames. Someone had to stop first.
