“It just sounded like you were moving around a lot.” She cleared her throat. “And we never talked about who would sleep on the floor. I mean, it was nice of you to offer, but you don’t seem…It doesn’t sound like it’s that comfortable.”
He held his breath.
“You could, uh, sleep here. If you wanted. I mean, the bed is huge. We could just, you know, stick to our sides of it.” The mattress creaked again, as if she was moving over to give him space.
This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. But he wasn’t able to think rationally anymore. He was so tired. And there was a warm, large bed in the room. A warm, large bed with Meghna in it. And if she was fine with him sleeping there, who was he to fight it?
“Okay.” He picked up his pillow and fumbled around in the darkness.
“Should I switch on the lights?”
“No, it’s fine. I got it,” he said as his hand brushed against the edge of the bed, the comforter, and then a soft shape underneath it.
“Sorry,” he said automatically, pulling his hand back like he’d been burned.
“For what?” her voice called from the opposite side of the bed.
His gaze swung wildly in the dark. That hadn’t been her? He tentatively reached out to touch the soft shape again, only to discover it was a stack of pillows, lying exactly where a body would be.
“Why are the pillows like this?”
“They’re a barricade. You know, to split the bed in half.”
“They’re all the way on my side,” he said.
“Well, push them into the middle, then.”
He did, pushing them over and climbing into bed. Once he lay down, he began to understand the wisdom of the pillow barrier. Her breaths were so loud, just inches away from him. His mind filled with thoughts of reaching over. Closing the scant distance between them. Kissing her again. Finishing what they’d started.
The pillows were a helpful reminder that nothing would happen. That nothingcouldhappen. A physical line in the sand between them.
“Is this better?” she asked, and he almost groaned. This was better. And worse. More comfortable than the ground, but torturous in an entirely different way.
“Yes,” he said through his teeth. “Much better.” He stretched his body, making sure to stay on his side. The soft mattress enveloped him, and he relaxed, allowing himself to sink farther into it.
She let out a loud yawn, and some of the tension within him eased at the sound. “Good night, Meghna.”
“Good night, Karthik.”
After a few minutes, sleep finally caught up with him. He shut his eyes and didn’t wake up until morning.
—
The next morning Meghna discovered, to her absolute horror, that she was sleeping on top of something soft. And warm. And cuddly.
She hoped for a second that she was just lying on top of the pillow barricade, but suddenly the soft, warm, cuddlythingbeneath her moved, and she realized it couldn’t have been the pillows. It was Karthik.
She opened her eyes slowly and tilted her head up, relieved to see that his eyes were still shut. His breathing was slow and even. She did a mental assessment of the situation, trying to determine the best way to get out of bed without waking him up and alerting him to their accidental cuddling.
Her upper body lay across his torso, and he had one arm wrapped around her, his hand resting against her lower back. Their legs were tangled together, with his thigh firmly between her legs. She shifted backward slightly, but his body followed with her, his arm tightening and his thigh somehow pressing even closer. She held back an involuntary moan.
She had to get out of here. Now. She turned her head to the side, scowling when she saw the stack of pillows behind her. Traitors. They had absolutely let her down. Her brain took that moment to inform her that if the pillows were behind her that meantshehad been the one to roll over and invade Karthik’s side of the bed, but she refused to accept that. It was too early for logic.
She tried to scoot backward again, but her back pressed up against the pillows, giving her nowhere to go. Another betrayal!
She made a noise of frustration, and Karthik’s eyes shot open.Great.She steeled herself for what was to come.
“Hey,” he said, his voice gravelly and rough.
