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Honestly, I’d been half nodding off in my seat.
“I have some catching up to do,” I agreed.
“Go on up then. You’ll feel better once you’ve had a few more hours.”
With that, I decided he was right.
But not before I took a long, hot, private shower first. And did my skincare. And all the various little before-bed rituals I had.
Then, because the room was so big and empty, I felt like I could hear myself thinking, so I got up and put one of the most mellow records on, playing low, and climbing into bed to pass out.
Only to wake up some time later. Shivering. It felt like the room had dropped thirty degrees since I’d gone to sleep. Even under the bedding the girls had set up and the blanket I’d brought.
I tried to just endure it until it felt like it had seeped into my bones, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Then, knowing I’d never get to sleep without another blanket, I climbed out of bed, and did the only thing I could think to do.
I knocked on Detroit’s door.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Detroit
I wasn’t sleeping.
As fucking ridiculous as it was, I couldn’t, knowing she was one wall away.
I’d gone into the bathroom after she’d gone to bed to brush my teeth, and the scents of her bath products were all around. It’s humiliating to admit even to myself, but I stood there for a second, breathing it in before I snapped myself out of it and went into my room.
I closed the door, leaning back against it, and letting out a breath as I looked around.
Usually, my room felt like a sanctuary. It was where I went to escape the parties when I didn’t feel like partaking.
I’d put a lot of work into it over the years. From the rustic floors and the wall of brick tiles I’d installed to warm up the space that had felt very cold and industrial before, to the decor. The tufted brown leather bed, the shelves under the window that mostly housed cookbooks I’d collected over the years, and some pictures of my family back in the day.
My gaze landed on an image of me and my brother, young teens still, smiling for a picture my grandmother had taken of us outside in the driveway playing basketball.
I moved toward it, picking it up.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I wondered aloud as I looked at my brother’s face. He’d been a happy kid. Despite the hard times, he was always light and smiling. Nothing like that man with the ice-cold eyes I saw at the gym.
With a sigh, I put the picture back down, but flipped it facedown this time.
I turned on the TV to distract myself, but couldn’t even focus on the game playing as I found myself pacing, trying to sit, then getting up to pace again.
Shower, rinse, repeat, for fucking hours.
Before I just forced myself to lower the light and get into bed, figuring I would pass out eventually.
It was right then that I heard a soft knock at the door.
I knew it was her before I even threw off the covers. The guys would have just charged in, knowing I never had women in my room. And the girls never came to my door.
I flicked on the light before pulling the door open, finding Everleigh standing there with a sleep mask pushed up on her forehead, and her pink blanket wrapped around her, her whole body trembling.
“Do you have another blanket?” she asked, jiggling to keep herself warm. “My room is so cold,” she added, leaning in toward mine. “It’s so much warmer in here,” she said, leaning into my room.
“Come in,” I said, ushering her inside. “Let me see what’s going on with your room,” I said, moving past her.
