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She’d try calling him one more time. If he didn’t answer, then…then…
Then she didn’t know what to do. Or what to think.
Grabbing her phone, she dialed before she chickened out because she didn’t want to hear only ringing once again.
When the first ring echoed in her ear, she tensed. Another went by with no low timbre voice answering. By the third ring, her heart swelled with disappointment. He was still ignoring her.
Making her way out of the kitchen with the phone clutched to her ear, hoping against hope he’d answer before the last ring, she paused in her living room.
A soft tone echoed down her hallway at the same time another ring sang in her ear. She started down the hallway toward her bedroom.
One ring in her ear.
One muted tone down the hallway.
At the same time.
His voicemail popped up. She ended the call without leaving a message as she entered her bedroom.
Dane lay sprawled on her bed, almost in the middle, but slightly more on his side than hers. He was snoring, and his phone sat on the nightstand he always used.
Glancing at the clock that read it was a little past eight o’clock, then at Dane, she blinked a few times, confused.
He was here. In her apartment. In her bed. Asleep.
She set her phone down next to his, then ran a hand across his forehead. He barely stirred. When she leaned closer, the strong odor of alcohol wafted her way.
No wonder he was snoring—something she hadn’t heard from him before—the man was drunk.
They had shared drinks together. But they had never gotten wasted before. If he was already passed out this early in the evening, he must’ve had quite a bit.
And instead of going home, he came to her.
A sweet smile spread across her face as she started to undress down to only panties. Grabbing a light tank top from the top of her dresser, she put it on and then crawled under the covers on her side of the bed. It took a bit of finagling with the unconscious—ridiculously adorable—man to get under the covers with her. She decided trying to wrestle his shirt off would be too much of a struggle. He had already taken off his pants, so she didn’t have to worry about that.
She snuggled closer, and to her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her as a low contented sigh escaped from his lips. Although he didn’t wake up, it’s as if he instinctively needed to hold her.
Then his light snores continued.
She chuckled and kissed his forehead.
“I love you, Dane,” she whispered against his forehead.
Then she fell asleep with him, hoping everything was as perfect as this moment in the morning.
Peace. And a feeling of rightness in his arms.
17
Dane groaned, shoving a hand over his eyes as the sun streamed through the window. The warm body snuggled against him shifted.
Gabriella.
Oh, damn.
Well, she hadn’t kicked him out of her bed last night, so that was a plus. Although his memory was shaky, he couldn’t quite remember climbing into her bed. He vaguely remembered leaving the bar with Jaxson’s arm around his shoulder. He sort of recalled shuffling Gabby’s key between his fingers and getting the door unlocked after multiple attempts. It was embarrassing even to think about it. His memory kind of came to him as he closed her door and stumbled to her room. His shoes came off. His pants next. He even pulled out his phone. Probably to call Gabby to find out where she was.
Then nothing but blackness. He obviously had passed out.
