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“I brought a load of stuff,” he replied. “But I don’t have a bed yet, so I’ll probably head back tonight and start stayin’ here tomorrow or Sunday.”
“You’re goin’ back to the cabbage house?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.
“It’s got a bed.”
“You should just stay here,” I said confidently, filling my plate. “You can sleep on a couch.”
“We don’t have a couch yet, Charles,” Kara reminded me. “It’s not being delivered until Monday.”
“Oh, right,” I said with a sigh. I stuffed a piece of sweet and sour chicken in my mouth. “You can sleep on the couch in my room if you want.”
The table was silent.
“What?” I asked, glancing around.
“You sure?” Bishop asked. “I don’t want to put you out.”
“Eh,” I said, taking another bite. “I don’t mind. I’m seriously going to crash as soon as I get back up there. You’re free to use it.”
“Thanks,” he said, watching me closely.
“If there’s anything in your way, just throw it on the floor,” I said easily. “You can sleep there but I’m not cleaning up for you.”
“Fair enough,” he said with a laugh.
“I am truly impressed by you sometimes,” Kara said dryly, sitting back in her chair while she stared at me. “You just held an entire conversation with food in your mouth—”
“I’m hungry and tired, give me a break.”
“And you were both welcoming and kind of an ass at the same time—”
“I’m welcoming as hell.”
“And somehow, you look like shit but you don’t really because you’re so gorgeous that even your shit looks better than half the population.”
“Good genes,” I replied, my mouth full of food. I was pretty much shoveling it in at that point. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I hadn’t had anything but coffee all day because I’d been so focused on getting shit done so I could sleep for a while.
The conversation went on, but I didn’t contribute. I was still so exhausted that I focused on eating so I could go back to bed. The early morning shift at the coffee cart loomed large just hours away. Plus, I was hoping that if I didn’t completely wake myself up and could keep the hazy feeling, I would actually be able to sleep through the night in my new room.
“You’re the best,” I said to Draco as soon as I’d finished. “Good idea on the Chinese food.”
“Hey, maybe it was my idea,” Kara joked.
“It wasn’t,” I replied as I brought my plate to the sink. “Draco always chooses Chinese. You always choose diner food or tacos. I’m going back to bed. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” Kara and Draco said at the same time.
I patted Bishop on the back as I passed him. “I’ll throw a pillow and a blanket on the couch for you. Just come in whenever.”
“Thanks, honey,” he said quietly.
Within minutes I was back in my little bedding cocoon and completely dead to the world. Unfortunately, it didn’t last.
“Motherfucker,” I whispered, checking the time on my phone.
It was one in the morning and I was wide awake, the wind blowing outside was making the house creak and groan yet again. Turning over in bed I stared into the darkness, finding Bishop’s sleeping shape on my couch.
Maybe if I could hear him or something, the noise of the house wouldn’t bother me so bad—but the man breathed so quiet I was tempted to go check if he was alive. Normal people snored, okay? Like, maybe they didn’t snore loudly, or maybe they only made intermittent noises, but I’d slept around tons of people and all of them made noises in their sleep. Not Bishop, though. What a freak.
“You alright?” he asked, making me nearly crap myself.
“Holy shit,” I gasped. “You’re awake?”
“You’ve been thrashin’ for the past half an hour and woke up swearin’,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Yeah, I’m awake.”
“Well, you could’ve said something,” I replied, pressing my hand to my heart. It was beating so fast it felt like it was going to escape my chest.
“I did,” he said with a quiet chuckle.
“Sorry, I woke you,” I said, curling onto my side.
“It’s alright,” he replied. “If you hadn’t, I would’ve woken up anyway. I don’t sleep real well.”
“Because of prison?” I asked without thinking. “Shit, sorry. None of my business.”
Bishop laughed and rolled onto his side so he was facing me. “I’ve never been a good sleeper,” he said, his voice low. “I can’t remember, even when I was a kid, falling asleep and staying asleep for the whole night.”
“That would drive me nuts,” I replied. “I’ve always been the person who can sleep anywhere. Well, except here apparently.”
“Why is here a problem, you think?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh. “Maybe just because it’s a new place? I’m not used to all the noises.”
“This house settles a lot,” he agreed. “Everything squeaks.”
