Page 36 of The Liar in Room 5

“Are you sure you don’t mind me staying over?” Drew asked as he stood in the doorway of my guestroom.

By the time we’d finished our discussion, it was already late. He could hardly keep his eyes open. He yawned on every other word. Honestly, I wasn’t doing much better. It had been a long day, and the conversation had taken a lot out of both of us.

“You’re always welcome to stay here,” I said with a smile.

I couldn’t stop myself from brushing his hair back a little. When I first met him, he’d had the perfect corporate haircut, but over the last several weeks, it had turned shaggier and more natural. The ends even had a little curl to them. It was his hair, of course, but I hoped he wasn’t in too much of a hurry to get it cut because I liked the way it had become a little wispy.

Drew stared at me, I assumed contemplating my answer, while I brushed past him to give him a tour of the room.

“If you need extra blankets, there’s a comforter in the bottom drawer of the dresser. In the bathroom, the shampoo and everything else is from the last time my mom stayed over. There are extra toothbrushes in the drawer too.”

“Your mom, huh?”

“Scout’s honor, and I know how seriously you take that,” I answered with a grin.

Drew looked at me, then back to the bed before meeting my eyes again.

“I don’t… I don’t think I want to sleep in here?”

He said it like it was a question, as if he wasn’t sure he was allowed to state a preference aloud.

“That’s fine. Where do you want to sleep instead?”

I did a double-take when he answered. “I want to sleep in your bed.”

“You’re always welcome to stay over, but I also want you to know there’s absolutely no obligation whatsoever. You don’t owe me a damn thing.”

“Do you mean nothing will ever happen between us?”

“It will only if you want that because you don’t owe me a damn thing.”

“But what if I want something to happen between us?”

“I would like that,” I reassured him. “But I’d make sure we both got tested because safety first, although I’m already on PrEP.”

“Yeah, me too, but I’m not going to complain about getting tested.”

“Does that mean you want to get tested?”

“I think so, yeah.”

Without hesitation, I strode across the room and drew him close. Drew immediately circled his arms around my torso so I could pull him against me. He buried his face in my neck and breathed deeply.

All my protective instincts kicked into overdrive whenever I was around this man. Everything about him screamed that I needed to keep him safe. He felt too trusting, too willing to believe that people wanted the best for him when it was for their own convenience. It would be far too easy for someone to take advantage of that trust.

“I know nothing will happen, but I want…” Drew trailed off as he tried to pull away from me.

I heard the embarrassment in his voice, and it broke my heart to think he felt any kind of shame for having perfectly normal wants and emotions. It pissed me off that the lesson he’d learned over the last two decades of his life was to put himself last whenever it was an option and to apologize for taking up space.

“Say it, sweetheart.”

“Can I sleep with you?” he whispered.

“Always.”

“You go in there, and I’ll use the guestroom bathroom,” I said firmly.

Drew gave me a questioning look but then nodded.