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“Can I walk you home?” I ask. Maybe I’ll come up with the right words during the two blocks.
It sucks when she shakes her head.
But then she says, “I’d rather you walked me across the street,” and my heart returns from its trip to the porch floor.
Ilive across the street.
She’s wanting to come back to my place. Back to my bed.
Hope sparks in my chest, contemplating that maybe she does care. Maybe this does matter to her. We already hooked up tonight, and she was leaving right after me.
“I mean, if that’s okay,” she says, and I realize she read into my silence. “If you don’t—”
“Of course it’s okay,” I reply.
I grab her hand, and her expression looks startled. Have we held hands before? Maybe not, I guess. It’s nice, though, having her warm fingers wrapped around mine. I can feel her bracelet where it’s slipped down her wrist. I sized it for mine, so it’s way too big on her.
But she’s wearing it. She’s been wearing it.
Hand in hand, we cross the street to my house. To the place where I never take girls.
And it feels just as right as kissing her did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RYLAN
Someone’s saying my name, but I’m too sleepy to open my eyes. I’m cozy and warm, snuggled underneath a thick comforter. Every time I inhale, there are happy flutters in my stomach.
“Rylan.”
I groan, rolling over, expecting to encounter more soft pillow. Instead, I hit a firm chest. My eyes fly open, registering Aidan’s smirk first. He’s lying in bed beside me—inhisbed. That’s what the delicious scent is. I’m wrapped in sheets that smell like him.
“Wow. And I thoughtIwas hard to wake up,” he comments.
I roll onto my back, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand in case there’s drool and running my fingers through what I’m sure is a bad case of bedhead. I’m groggy and Aidan looks like a male model. Whereas I’m barefaced and yawning. All his bathroom had was a bar of soap, so my skin is probably already breaking out.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“No clue. I forgot to charge my phone last night. It’s dead.”
I cover up another yawn. “Um, okay…”
We didn’t talk much last night, after I invited myself over. We had sex, which I’m reminded of when I shift under the sheets. He was rougher than usual, and I loved every single second of it. He gave me one of his T-shirts to wear to bed. I don’t remember anything after that, so I must have fallen asleep fast.
And now, he’s just staring at me.
I feel my face flush under the scrutiny.
“I’ll, uh, go.”
Aidan grabs my forearm before I can move, calloused fingertips sliding down to my wrist until he reaches the bracelet I’m wearing. That seems to be his favorite spot to touch me now. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Then why’d you wake me up?”
Aidan shifts, his thigh brushing against mine under the covers, and I think the answer will besex. Instead, he says, “Because I wanted to tell you something. I’vebeenwanting to tell you something, and I ran out of patience when you weren’t waking up.”
“Jeez. Sorry for sleeping.”
