Page 83 of I Never Stopped Loving You

When I heard the soft sigh of her relaxing against my body, I woke up instantly. It wasn’t a dream. She was really here.

In my bed.

In my arms.

My little rabbit was here.

“How’re you feeling?” I whisper against her neck, not wanting to disturb the silence too much.

She remains still, and I start to wonder if she’s fallen back asleep, but then she finally speaks.

“I feel okay, except my head hurts. What happened last night?”

“You don’t remember?” I ask.

“I remember the bar, the amaretto sour, then the shot of liquid marijuana…”

“Shots. There were shots, Willow,” I laugh.

“How many?”

“I think you drank four.”

“Oh God,” she groans as she covers her face with her hands. “I didn’t get sick, did I?” she mumbles.

“Nope. We took an Uber back here, and I carried you up to my bed.”

“We…We didn’t…did we?” she sounds nervous, and her body tenses up.

“No, Willow. We didn’t do anything. I brought you up here, took your shoes off, then tucked you in.”

I can feel her body relax again.

“Where’s my phone?”

“I used your thumb to unlock it to text Jenna, letting her know you were staying here, but she didn’t believe it was you texting, so she FaceTimed me. I was yelled at.”

I can’t help but laugh when I remember the call. Shit, I need to go bring in the groceries and get started on breakfast. Thankfully it’s freezing outside so the groceries are fine sitting out there a little longer. They were delivered over an hour ago. I woke up from the notification that someone was at the front gate and let them in. After I saw the delivery driver leave, I wrapped my arm back around her and fell back asleep.

“Sorry. As I said, she’s a bit protective.”

“No, it’s a good thing. I’m glad you’ve had someone in your life who cares about you so much, Willow.”

I place another kiss against the side of her neck before I roll over and stand up. I’m still in my boxers and T-shirt from last night. When she rolls over and looks up at me with that sleepy smile, I can’t hide the smile on my face.

I’ve never felt happier in my life than I am right now. Seeing her in my bed. Makeup smeared from the night before, hair messy, and that sleepy smile on her lips.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I say out loud without meaning to, and her face instantly blushes.

“I probably look horrible right now. Alcohol and I don’t always get along, and those shots are my favorite.”

“Oh, I could tell from how you drank mine,” I chuckle, and her eyes widen in shock.

“I drank yours?”

“We originally ordered three each. I only drank two of mine because they were super sweet. You said you didn’t want to waste them, but didn’t want me to get sick, so you downed the last two, one after another.”

“Oh, God. No wonder I don’t remember shit.”