Page 41 of Shattered Dreams

I chuckle as I bring the phone to Paul, who is still standing in the bedroom.

“Maddox wants to say good night.”

He takes it, and they have a quick conversation. He asks if he’s having fun, if he’s okay. They say good night and he ends the call, handing me my cell back.

“Thanks,” I say, taking the phone and walking around to my side of the bed to plug it in. When I move to get into bed, I find Paul standing right there.

“Dre,” he says carefully, licking his lips and looking at me with a scared look. “What was that?”

His voice is shaking slightly.

“What was what?” I say, but I don’t sound convincing. I know exactly what he’s talking about. And he knows I know.

“Before your phone rang.”

I don’t want to lie to him, but I also don’t think I want to talk about it either. So I just go with the most honest answer I can give him.

“I don’t know.”

He holds my gaze for a long moment before nodding and going around to his side of the bed.

I notice he keeps his distance, staying on the other side.

But I wake up in the middle of the night because I have to pee, and he’s cuddled against me again.

I carefully get up to use the bathroom, not sure of the time, but it’s got to be around two or three. After washing my hands, I head back to bed, sliding into the blankets exactly where I was.

Paul’s arm comes around my waist and he pulls me to him. I don’t know how I know, but I can just tell he isn’t sleeping anymore.

I freeze, my heart pounding so hard I feel it in my ears.

“This okay?” he whispers.

“Yes,” comes out of my mouth without having to think.

He moves closer, throwing his leg over my thigh. I feel his cock against me. It isn’t hard, but I feel it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a man’s dick on my leg before. It doesn’t bother me, though. Not like I would have expected it to. In fact, I think it’s the opposite, because my dick definitely takes notice.

It’s late though, and I should go to sleep. The kids are coming back tomorrow, and Rylee is going to want to do a million things like always.

“Good night,” Paul whispers.

“Night,” I respond, and I finally settle back into the warmth of the bed and allow myself to fall asleep.

When I wake up in the morning, Paul is still attached to me like a koala bear. When I open my eyes and look at him, I find him watching me.

So he’s completely aware of the way he’s holding me.

We just stare at each other, blinking slowly. I don’t know what the hell to say, and he just looks like he has nothing to say.

Like… we’re just doing this and that’s it.

Could it be that simple? I don’t know, because I want to know what this is.

Friends don’t do this. But we aren’t doing more, so we can’t be more than that, right?

I don’t know. It’s too much to think about, especially before coffee.

“Hungry?” I ask, my voice raspy.