This was fine.
She was fine.
She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. The mattress felt enormous and cold. Her body felt restless, as if it had grown accustomed to something it no longer had.
Nope, it was better this way.
“If I say it enough times, I’ll believe it, right?” she asked the empty space beside her.
Maybe tonight was a reset. A reminder that they were still friends. That she wasn’t allowed to get attached to something that already had an expiration date stamped on it.
Her throat tightened unexpectedly, and she rolled onto her side, punching the pillow as she went. It took a few tries to get comfortable, but every time she moved her leg or stretched out, she thought of their conversation this morning about her being a bed hog. She hadn’t meant to be, but she’d never paid attention to where her body moved during the night because she always had an entire bed to herself.
With a soft sigh, Evie told herself to relax. Her eyes closed when she heard something.
A knock.
Not loud, but not tentative either. Her heart leaped so violently that she nearly tripped over the edge of the bed getting up. She crossed the room too quickly, nearly running across the tiny cabin before yanking the door open.
And there he was.
Slater.
With his hands in his jacket pockets and his hair still smelling faintly of smoke, his expression was carefully neutral in the moonlight.
“You forgot something,” he said.
She blinked. “I did?”
“Yeah.”
He stepped closer, and her pulse went wild.
“Me.”
Her breath left her in a rush she couldn’t stop. “Slater, I…”
“You really thought I was just going to say goodnight?” His voice was low and controlled. “After sitting across from you for two hours trying not to think about how you’d taste like chocolate and smoke if I walked over and kissed you? How I couldn’t wait to find out?”
Her knees nearly buckled.
“All our friends were there, and that obviously wasn’t part of the plan so I was being respectful,” he continued, stepping inside and quietly closing the door behind him. “Very mature. Ten out of ten self-control.”
She swallowed. “That so?”
“Mm-hmm.” He stopped in front of her. Close, but not touching.
She hated that they weren’t touching.
“And how’s that working out for you?” she asked softly.
His jaw tightened slightly. “Terrible.”
Relief flooded her so fast it was almost dizzying and a nervous laugh was out before she could stop it. She hadn’t imagined it. The tension. The pull. The way his eyes darkened every time she laughed.
“I thought maybe,” she admitted quietly, “it was better if we… didn’t.”
His gaze softened just a little. “Is that what you want?”
