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“Sergei. Please come back, big guy.” I trail a finger down his nose. “I’m fascinated with your nose, you know that?”
He blinks.
“That’s good,” I say, and glide the tip of my finger down his nose again. “Come back, Sergei.”
“Lisichka?” he whispers.
“Yup. Your bed hijacker.”
I watch as he takes a deep breath, moves his gaze to the hand that’s still holding on to my neck, and tenses.
“Jesus fuck.” He lets go of my neck like he’s been burned and jumps up off the bed. He staggers backward until he hits the wall, then lowers himself onto the floor, staring at me the whole time.
“I fell asleep.” The way he says it, it sounds like it’s the most atrocious thing he could have done. “I can’t believe I let myself fall asleep next to you.”
“Sergei . . .”
“I could have killed you.” He buries his hands in his hair, closes his eyes, and bangs the back of his head against the wall. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
I wrap the blanket around me, leave the bed, and come to kneel on the floor in front of him.
“Don’t!” I cup his face with my hands. “It’s my fault. Felix warned me not to touch you when you’re asleep. I forgot.”
“It’s not your fault that I’m fucked up,” he says. “I’m taking you to a hotel today. You’re not safe with me around.”
“I’m not going to a hotel.”
“Okay. Then, I’ll go.”
I press my lips together. “You’re not going anywhere, either.”
“Angelina—”
“No. We’re both staying here. And we will find a way to work around this.”
His head snaps up and he stares at me with his eyes wide. “Are you crazy? I almost choked you to death, for God’s sake.”
“You were just holding me away from you. Next time, I’ll wait until you’re awake before touching you.”
“There won’t be a next time, Angelina. I’m not making the same mistake and endangering you ever again.”
“I woke you up in the middle of a nightmare, Sergei. You thought I was a threat. And still, you didn’t hurt me.”
“I could have.” He shakes his head. “You need to stay away from me.”
I lean forward until my nose touches his. “Not happening. Let’s get back to bed.”
“No. I’m going to the other room. There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep after what happened, but just in case.”
“Okay.” I nod. “I’m taking the pillow and coming with you. And just so you know, I hate sleeping on the floor. I went camping once when I was in third grade. One of the worst experiences of my life, and that’s a very competitive list.”
“You are not sleeping on the floor, Angelina.”
“The bed it is, then. I’m glad we agree on that.” I take his hand and get up. “Come. Please.”
He lets me pull him up, and reluctantly follows across the room. Climbing into bed, I scoot over to make room for him and pat the pillow next to my head. Sergei watches me, his face grim, then sits on the bed with his back to me and hangs his head, staring at the floor between his feet. It’s obvious he isn’t planning to lie down. I shift to sit behind him with my legs on either side of his hips, wrapping my arms around his chest. Resting my left palm just over his heart, I put my cheek on his back.
Sergei takes a deep breath and covers my hand with his. “I’m fucked up, Angelina. Seriously fucked up.”
