“Why would you do that when I can carry you just fine?” I elbow her door fully open. Her room is dark, with thick curtains pulled across the window and the only light coming from a tiny nightlight plugged into the wall. Some sort of gauzy fabric encircles the bedframe. I lay her down among her restlessly tossed aside sheets and she grabs onto my hand before I can pull away.
My heart stutters slightly as I look down at her, my blue eyes meeting her warm brown ones. There’s a sadness there in her eyes, but something else too, something small and vulnerable.
“Stay.”
I shake my head. “I’ll be fine on the couch.”
I attempt to pull my hand away, but she tightens her hold. “No, I mean it. It’s a king size. There’s plenty of room for both of us. It’s mean of me to make you sleep on the couch.”
Cracking a smile, I say, “It’s not mean. I kind of forced you to let me stay here.”
“If I adamantly told you no, you wouldn’t have come.”
She says it as a statement, but I answer anyway. “No, I wouldn’t have.”
“It’s just a bed,” she sighs. “I can keep my hands to myself. Can you?” Her look is pure sass.
“I can do that.”
She pats the other side of the bed. “Get over here then. You’re too tall to sleep on the couch and I’m done making you suffer.”
I laugh, squeezing her hand that still holds mine. “You’re in control here. You’ve always had the power over me.”
She stares at me for a long moment, and I can see a flurry of thoughts spinning out of control in her eyes. “You might think that, but I’ve always been helpless when it comes to you.”
I hesitate, rocking back on my heels. Maybe that’s our problem—we have no power when it comes to the other.
“Hurry up,” she says softly. “I want to try to get some sleep.”
I’m not going to wait any longer and let her change her mind, so I make my way around her bed and settle on the other side. I’m helpless when a sigh of contentment flies out of my lips.
The sheets rustle as she turns over to face me, a little giggle slipping out of her. “Better than the couch?”
“You have no idea.” I adjust the pillow behind my head. Something tells me I’m going to have no issue falling asleep this time.
She rolls back to her other side, and I think that’s going to be it, but a few minutes later she whispers, “Are you still awake?”
“Barely.” I stifle a yawn.
“Don’t let this go to your head or anything but I think … I think I’m kind of glad you’re here.”
“Too late,” I say around a grin.
“I’ll deny it in the morning,” she grumbles.
“Nope. No takebacks.”
She laughs softly. “Night, Fisher.”
“Goodnight, Ebba.”
I stare up at her ceiling, grinning like an idiot.
CHAPTER 25
EBBA
I awakento a persistent and loud banging noise.
