Page 52 of The Chase

ME: Can you come over? I need to see you.

TJ: I have practice but then I can come. Don’t you have work?

ME: No, I’m taking a sick day. I…I just can’t today.

TJ: Okay. I’ll see you soon.

I dropped my phone onto my bedside table and pulled the blankets up on my chest. I had no desire to get out of bed or get dressed. Even if TJ was going to see me later. I really needed this mental health day. I slipped into sleep after a weekend of tossing and turning.

I stirred at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, but I ignored it because I thought it was Keiana. I didn’t even open my eyes. Not when my bedroom door creaked open or when I felt a weight dip down in my bed. I curled into the bed and the warmth it provided.

My alarm went off what felt like seconds later and a groan sounded from behind me. Startled, I reached for my phone but realized there was a large forearm wrapped around my waist and a big thigh entangled with mine. A warm, muscular chest was pressed up against my back. I shut off my alarm and shifted onto my back to find TJ half-asleep beside me.

Did he seriously come over and nap with me? That was…kind of sweet.

Hazel eyes popped open and stared down at me. I could get lost in those storms of greens and browns. He leaned over me and reached a hand up to brush my hair behind my ear. That cute, lopsided grin etched across his face.

“Hi,” I whispered.

“Hey, yourself,” he whispered back, then pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“How long have you been here?” I asked through a yawn.

He checked his phone. “An hour. Keiana let me in. You were half-asleep, and it seemed like you needed it. Roxie told me you had a panic attack earlier and you needed cuddles.”

I laughed. “You and your sister are a bit too close.”

“I know! Benny always says it’s like dating both of us. But she’s my best friend, and we tell each other everything.”

My eyes bugged out of my head. “Everything?”

He laughed. “Um…not all the details. I would never tell her anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“Did you tell her about…”

He frowned. “That you faked it the first time?”

I grimaced.

He stroked my cheek. “It’s okay, baby. I just wanted her advice. I thought I did something wrong.”

“It probably wasn’t your fault. I think it was my complicated feelings about sex.”

“But since then it’s been okay, right?”

He seemed nervous, like our time together hadn’t been good enough for me. But TJ was attentive to my needs and asked what I wanted. He hadn’t done that the first time we slept together, but since then, he took the extra effort to make sure I felt good. I had never expected him to be such a considerate lover.

I nodded and snuggled down into his chest, laying my head against his heart. He had stripped down to his boxers, but he felt so warm, and he smelled of clean laundry and manly ocean-scented soap. He smelled like home and comfort, and I sighed in contentment at him stroking my hair. The thump-thump-thump of his heart was a calming noise in my ear.

“I’m sorry,” I said into his chest.

He kissed the top of my head. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“TJ, I haven’t had a boyfriend since high school for a reason. You don’t want to be with a fragile, broken woman who has panic attacks.”

He tilted my chin up to look at him. “What makes you think I’m not in it for the long haul?”

“Because you’re you!”