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Until you came along, and my rules went up in flames.
“I’d hardly call this a sleepover, Noah. It’s more like nurse duty.”
“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”
“Go to sleep,” she sighed.
My hand slipped along her thigh and found the hem of her t-shirt, but Aurora covered my hand with hers, stopping me in my tracks. “Don’t.”
“Shit, yeah, okay.”
I went to pull back, but she held my hand tighter. “You really hurt me tonight, Noah.”
“I know, shortcake. Fuck, I know.” Shame slithered through me, coiling in my chest. “The last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt you, but things are complicated.”
She didn’t reply, her silence deafening.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I added. “If you’ll let me, I’ll—Aurora?”
Her breathing had evened out. She’d fallen asleep in my arms.
I pressed a kiss to her shoulder and closed my eyes. Aurora didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she was taking one of my firsts tonight.
I didn’t do sleepovers. Even with Sam, I’d made a point of never waking up at her place. It felt too intimate, too heavy.
But there was something about being here with Aurora that scared the shit out of me.
Because it felt real.
It felt…
Permanent.
I woke to a phone vibrating.
My phone.
“What the—” I snatched it off the floor and silenced the ringtone.
Aurora stirred beside me, and before I could panic about what the fuck I was doing half-naked in her bed, memories of the night before came flooding back.
Her standing in the hall while I tried to stay upright. Me puking in her bathroom like the pathetic piece of shit I was. Pulling her down on the bed and wrapping myself around her like a fucking koala.
Jesus.
Gently, I eased myself out of bed. Aurora looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb her. I didn’t particularly want to leave without saying goodbye either, but it was early, and I needed to go.
If Austin weren’t already home, he would be soon. And who knew when Connor might show.
Leaning over her, I brushed the hair from Aurora’s face and whispered, “See you later, shortcake,” before slipping from her room.
Connor wasn’t home. His bedroom door was ajar, and there was no sign of him. But Austin was. I could hear the fucker snoring like a grizzly bear. I prayed to God he hadn’t checked in on Aurora before he went to sleep, but he didn’t strike me as that kind of brother.
Connor seemed more interested in her life than Austin did.
Tiptoeing down the hall to my room, I ducked inside and threw my shit on the bed. I’d spent the night with Aurora after abandoning her on our date, getting shitfaced at some bar, and puking in her bathroom. I couldn’t even remember getting home, for fuck’s sake.
Not my finest moment.
