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I playfully slug his shoulder. “We always have fun together.”
“Yeah, but…” He looks away. “You’re right.”
I take his hand. “I had a lot of fun, too.”
He watches me for a while.
“What?” I ask.
His eyes widen and he averts his gaze. “Was just thinking about…stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Stuff.”
I laugh. “Care to elaborate?”
He shrugs. “A lot of stuff?” He groans. “Just the stuff happening in my life. The future. You know. It was nice to take a break from all that.”
I snuggle up to his chest and immediately feel his warmth. And his pounding heart. Is that because he’s so cold? And maybe a little nervous to be in an unfamiliar town, so far from home? “I know what you mean,” I say. “Once we leave Derryton, it’s back to the real world.”
He smooths his hand down my hair. “Yeah,” he whispers. “The real world.”
I turn around so my back faces him and move to the edge of the bed to give him some room. Liam wraps his arm around me, slowly tugging me back to him. “Is this okay? I don’t want you to accidentally fall off the bed.”
My heart thumps because he’s so close to me. His body so close to mine. Our legs tangled in each other’s. I can feel the hard muscles of his chest, his legs, his arm. “Yeah,” I breathe. “It’s okay.” And so warm and perfect.
His arm around my waist holds me close like he wants to protect me. The place where he touches me burns, just like earlier today.
I turn my head to face him, and his eyes meet mine.
“What?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Just checking if you were sleeping.” I turn back around and face the wall, trying to shove my confusing thoughts out of my head. Liam means so much to me. I love our close friendship. So why is everything blending into one big cloud of confusion?
Is it because I’m so desperate for a boyfriend that my body goes crazy when a guy is nearby? Doesn’t it understand that Liam isn’t…that he can never be…
“‘Night, Chloe,” he whispers, his warm breath tickling my ear.
My breath catches in my throat and a tingly feeling zaps down my spine.
“You’re so cold,” he murmurs, tightening his arm around me and pulling me toward his chest to try to warm me up. He has no idea that my shiver has nothing to do with the temperature.
“I’m okay, thanks. Good night, Liam,” I whisper.
He bends close and presses a soft kiss on my cheek.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Liam
I press my pillow tightly to my chest, but something doesn’t feel right. My pillow is way too hard.
My eyes pop open and I find long brown hair spilled over my chest. My arms are wrapped around Chloe like she really is my pillow, and her head rests on my chest like I’m hers. Her arms are draped around my neck.
I have no idea how that happened. I guess we must have hugged each other in our sleep. Maybe because it’s so cold in this motel room.
I keep my eyes on her, my chest rising and falling softly. I dare not move as to not wake her. I have no idea what time it is.
