Still curled against me like a secret. Still asleep, tucked under my chin, the edges of my sweatshirt swallowed up in her fists. My hand rested just below her ribs. I couldfeelthe slow rise and fall of her breathing. She smelled of sleep and warmth and… I wanted to stayright herefor the rest of my life.
God.Fuck.
I’d meant just to check on her. That was all. A blanket, maybe. A pillow. She’d dozed off, and I couldn’t make myself leave. Icouldn’t imagine a world where I left her asleep on the floor, alone.
So I sat down beside her. Just for a second.
And then she sort of… leaned into me in her sleep — like sheknewit was me, like shetrustedme — and I was a goner.
But wow, in the watery light of early morning, with the ground aching under my spine and my heart somehow achingworse;I let my eyes flutter open.
She was still here.
She hadn’t left me.
I swallowed hard and pressed the lightest kiss to her hair. Just once. Just a breath.
You idiot.
You idiot, you idiot, you idiot.
“Fuck,” I whispered into her curls. “I’m too old to be sleeping on the goddamn floor.”
She stirred.
Not much, not at first. Just a soft noise in the back of her throat, a tiny exhale as she burrowed in closer. And me? I broke a little.
There were a hundred things I wanted to say. That she was beautiful like this. That I would willingly sleep on a thousand floors if it meant waking up with her. That she could take every piece of me and I’d still offer more.
But her breathing was steady. And the moment was fragile.
So I stayed quiet. Stayed still.
“Hey, cowboy?” She whispered, and I thought my heart was going to burst from my chest.
“What’s up, kid?” My arms tightened around her, just a fraction. If she was about to ask me to let her go… I was going to hold her as closely as I could.
“Why are we on the floor?” She giggled, turning towards me.
Shegiggled.
Fuck me.
“You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to disturb you. Plus… you might have been drooling. Couldn’t risk it.”
A flush crept over her cheeks, sweet and slow. Her mouth tilted into a sleepy smile.
And my entire world narrowed to that smile. From the way her knee brushed mine, to the bare inches between us. To her lips — parted, pink,so close— and the aching temptation to close the distance.
MygodI could kiss her. Right now. Right here.
And she might even let me.
I didn’t move. I didn’t breathe. I just watched her, as if she might vanish. “Ansel,” she said softly, blinking up at me.
“Yeah?”
Her gaze dipped to my mouth.
