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“Good to know. Well, good night. I’ll kill the light. I can read in the dark.” Cutter gets up and crosses the room, stopping at the tape mark and leaning over the dresser, every torso muscle showing off. He looks at me over his shoulder, his reach still a foot short of the light switch.
“You can make an exception to turn the light off,” I say through a soft laugh.
“Phew, good. Okay. I was starting to worry I would have to really practice that leap from the doorway to my side, practicing all my moves for door shutting and light-switch flipping.”
He flicks the light off and returns to his side of the bed. I follow his form, looking at him in my periphery as he sinks down to fully lay next to me. He adjusts his pillow and tucks a hand behind his neck, his elbow dangerously close to my temple. I sigh and roll my head the other way.
“Oh, sorry,” he hums, adjusting again, switching arms to give me more space.
“You know, I’d be down with buying twins,” I grumble.
“Sure. I mean, if that will help you in terms of . . . well, you know.” He ends it there, and several seconds pass while I hold my breath and wait for him to finish that thought. Becauseno—I don’t know.
Unable to stand it, I roll to my side and narrow my eyes on him.
“Help me how?”
I’m not surprised to see his lip tick up slightly, but it still pisses me off.
“With the bet. You can’t stand being this close to me. It makes you . . . weak.” His smirk grows.
“Oh, hell no, buddy! That has nothing to do with it. Your bulky-ass body just takes up too much room.” I shove his bicep and he goes nowhere. I don’t even think his muscle twitched.
“Well, you’re the one who put this line on the bed. I don’t care how much room you take up.” He lifts the band I put around the mattress and lets it snap.
“Fine, then. Move over,” I say, flopping to my other side so my back is to him. I arch my spine and press against his side, urging him to scoot to the edge of his side. He chuckles but moves to give me room.
“You comfortable now? No temptations driving you wild?” His deep laugh fires me up a little more and I shove backward hard, knocking him to the floor.
“Now I’m comfortable.” I snuggle into my blanket and pillow and force my eyes shut.
“You’re stronger than you look, Price. I’ll give you that,” he says, still laughing. It pisses me off that I can’t seem to pisshimoff. This whole thing is fun for him. It’s maddening.
“You have no idea how strong I am,” I mutter as I will myself not to react to the feel of his body slipping back into bed. The mattress sinks with his weight and his blanket covers my feet with some extra weight.
No matter how hard I try not to, I keep mentally replaying every word he’s said tonight. I imagine having better responses, and I dream of my own bed and a room that he isn’t in. But I also refuse to roll over and let him have his way. That’s how things are for Cutter. Healwaysgets his way. And that’s why, no matter how tempting his body heat is at my back, I know I will not suddenly grow feelings for him.
“You’re still awake, huh?” he whispers. I’m not sure how long I’ve been trying to sleep, but I guess it’s been close to an hour. The room got darker a minute ago when he put his phone on the charger.
I think about not answering, but he’ll just hover over me and test my eyes, so I let out a heavy sigh.
“I don’t sleep well sometimes. When I’m stressed, for example.”
“Oh, I make you . . . stressed,” he teases.
I sigh harder this time.
“Yeah, and not in a good way.”
He doesn’t have a response to that, and that same guilty twinge that hit my gut the last time I insulted him is back.Damn you, conscience!
“I have trouble sleeping too. Sometimes I meditate.”
I cough out a short laugh because the visual of him sitting with his eyes closed and his hands on his knees seems ridiculous. He’s at least six-four. And he’s as bulky as a refrigerator.
“Way to perpetuate the stigma, Price. Classy.”
I snap my mouth shut. Even though he was sort of joking with his response, there was sharp truth to it too. It’s not fair to assume big guys can’t have complex problems. I know better.
