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She let out a quiet sigh and he put his arm around her and patted her shoulder. It was kind of sweet how she fell asleep on him. How long should he let her be? Her sister would probably worry if she came back too late. He glanced at the clock. It was only eleven. It wouldn’t hurt to let her sleep for a while longer.
On impulse he leaned over and kissed the top of her head. Her hair smelled of coconuts and sunshine that made him think of today, when she was sitting outside in her sweats and T-shirt. He chuckled. She was so funny.
Why had he lost touch with Remi? She’d been his best friend all through high school. Why had he let them drift apart? He hadn’t meant to. He’d just gotten busy. And his father had pushed him hard in the beginning. Heck, he was still pushing him. But he missed the closeness he and Remi used to have. He wanted that back.
She stirred and lifted her head to look at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I fall asleep?”
“Yeah, and you missed the end of the movie.” He brushed a strand of her hair from her face. He’d always thought she had stunning blue eyes. For some reason, they looked quite large right now as she stared at him.
“Oops.”
“That’s okay. We can finish it tomorrow. Unless you don’t want to…”
“I want to. I was into it. I just got extremely tired for some reason.” She yawned as if to punctuate her statement. It was adorable. Why hadn’t he noticed how cute Remi was before? She wasn’t model material like her sister, but there was something else about her that he couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe it was her aura of innocence. Or maybe it was just that he hadn’t seen her since high school, and she’d grown up since then. Whatever it was, he was surprised to find himself thoroughly enjoying their closeness. Maybe even a little too much. Remi was just a friend.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind you sleeping on me.”
Her cheeks colored and she sat up. She suddenly wouldn’t look directly at him. “I didn’t even realize I was…”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic,” he said quietly.
Remi’s face turned another shade of red. Was she upset? He was trying to be playful, but maybe he was just making her uncomfortable. That was the last thing he wanted, especially now he was hoping to keep up their friendship. She rubbed at her eyes. “I should go.”
“So soon?” He wasn’t ready to part yet. He wanted to talk more with her.
“I feel like I’m going to fall back asleep.” She wouldn’t meet his gaze.
Crud. Hehadmade her uncomfortable. Colton stood and held out his hand to her. “I’ll walk you to your room.”
“Oh, it’s okay. It’s only two doors down.” She laughed and combed her fingers through her hair as she crossed the room. She tugged it up into a messy bun. Her movements were stilted, like she wasn’t quite sure how to act in front of him. “I think I can make it.”
Was she trying to get away from him? The last thing he wanted to do was ruin their friendship. He wanted things to go back to the way they were. He didn’t want to add any awkwardness between them. “Come on. You’re tired. I just want to make sure you get back to your room okay.”
“All right,” she said, leaning against the desk. Her finger brushed against the piece of paper his father had dropped, and he reached over and picked it up.
“Hey, before you go. Take a look at this. What do you think of it?” He handed it to her.
She opened the paper and stared at it.“What’s this?”
“My dad dropped it in the lobby.”
She read the note and looked up at him. “What does that mean?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Did you ask your father about it?”
“No.” He dropped his gaze. “I kind of want to figure out what they’re talking about first. Whatisthe truth about me? And what did my father do?”
Remi tossed the note on the desk. “Could be a prank.”
“Yes.” He’d wondered that, too. But a niggling in the back of his mind wouldn’t let him totally dismiss it. A part of him took it seriously.
Remi clapped her hands together. “I got it. Your dad could be a murderer who stole some pregnant woman’s baby and you’re not really related to him, like that movie we saw as kids.” Remi flashed one of her lopsided grins at him.
He scoffed. “Yeah, right.”
“You don’t look anything like your father.” Remi rubbed her chin. “I mean, we used to talk about that…remember?”
