AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her shoulders sag. "I'm not avoiding you; I'm avoiding the topic."
"Is it really that hard of a topic?"
She runs her fingers through her hair and looks around—anywhere but at me. "Not exactly. I just don't know what to say about it yet."
It seems like the answer is simple: the only option I have to keep her around is letting it go for now. It might be hell, being around her and not being able to do what I want, but it's better than her avoiding me.
"Okay." I shrug. "Then we won't talk about it."
Her head whips toward me. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," I say with a shrug. "It'll be like it never happened until you're ready to talk about it."
The idea seems to ease her worries, because she takes a deep breath and nods with a smile.
"Thank you."
"No worries." I turn and lean against her car. "You just have to promise me something."
She tilts her head to the side in a silent question, and I can faintly see the worry in her eyes.
"You'll still sleep at my place tonight. With how tired you are, I don't want you trying to wake up at five in the morning tomorrow."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she raises her brows at me. "No funny business?"
"None," I confirm. "Just a simple sleepover."
"Okay. I'll grab some clothes, check on my dad, and then meet you at your place."
It's not exactly a win, but it feels like one, so fuck it. I'll take it.
PAIGE GETS TO MY place right after the sun goes down, which is just enough time for me to clean up. She doesn't need to know that I cleaned my room and made sure that there was nothing she shouldn't find lying around. Definitely not. Friends don't put in that much of an effort.
I hear her soft knock on the door and don't even get up off the couch. This has to look as much like a friendly thing as possible.
"It's open."
She comes in, and I glance away from the TV for a second to look at her. Her hair is down and straightened, but the rest of her looks like she's ready for bed. She must have decided to wear what she plans on sleeping in so that she didn't have to bring more clothes than necessary. Still, my eyes go to her legs.
"Are you wearing shorts? It's fucking February."
Shivering, she nods and after putting her bag down, she rushes over to the couch. "Shush. I get hot when I sleep. Now give me a blanket."
I look back at the show I was never paying attention to in the first place just to avoid blatantly checking her out. Still, I can't resist messing with her for it.
"You could just sleep naked," I suggest.
As she grabs the closest throw pillow, I think she's going to throw it at me, but instead, she puts it behind her head. "I do, at home."
And fuck. That just made my life so much harder, especially being as I already know what she looks like naked. Then again, she's grown since I last had her in my bed. She's almost two years older, and getting older has never been a bad thing for her. She's aged like a fine wine.
I look over at her, only to find her grinning at me.
"You're fucking with me."
She chuckles and nods. "I can’t help it. It's too fun."
I'm just about to respond when Carter comes in, holding two bags of Chinese food. Of course, he's not subtle at all, and after he puts down the food, he stops and looks between the two of us.
