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He stills. “What?”
“I…” I cross my arms over my middle, firming my mouth so it won’t tremble. “I don’t want to be by myself.”
He stares at me for a long moment, each passing second torturous.
“Whoever broke into my place could come back,” I whisper. “I know it’s asking a lot, but I’d feel safer with you here.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah, okay.”
My knees weaken as relief floods through me. “It probably sounds stupid, but I just have this feeling like… nothing bad can happen if I’m with you.”
He looks down at the ground, but not before I catch his cheeks pinkening.
Crap. I embarrassed him.
“Um, is this what you normally put on the bed?” I ask, pointing to the blanket in his arms.
He seems to shake off whatever awkwardness I created. “I have a heavier comforter I was going to put on for you.”
He grabs it from the closet and lays it out, then excuses himself to the bathroom.
I take a seat at the edge of the bed, burying my face in my hands. How did I end up here? A month ago, I’d never have believed I’d be spending a night at this guy’s apartment.
Not that I’mspending the night. It’s sleeping. I don’t even know for sure if his offer extends another night in case they can’t fix my door tomorrow.
God, what a mess.
“You okay?”
I look up, finding Austin in the doorway, the sweatpants he’s changed into hanging low on his hips. How long have I been sitting here feeling sorry for myself?
“Yeah, fine. Just wondering which side of the bed you sleep on.”
Does he ever have girls sleep over? I haven’t noticed anyone since I moved in, but I wasn’t paying attention.
How many women has he been with? It has to be a lot, right? It seemed like every other girl at Element was eyeing him. Mia’s friend even outright asked him to dance with her.
But he’d chosen to stay with me all night.
Does that mean something?
“I don’t have a preference. Whichever side you want is yours.”
I nod, randomly choosing the right side, and slip under the covers.
“You ready to sleep?” he asks, hand hovering over the light switch.
A frisson of nervousness runs down my spine as I nod again and the room plunges into darkness.
Guess he doesn’t have a nightlight.
He gets in on the other side, the sheets rustling.
“Goodnight,” I whisper.
“Goodnight.”
I shut my eyes, but it’s no use. The only thing running through my brain is who wanted in and what they wanted to begin with.
