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“Me too,” she replied. “We can talk wedding plans tomorrow.”
The girls squeezed each other tight, then Merritt gave Oliver a hug. “Goodnight, Oliver.”
“Goodnight,” he said.
Oliver and Adelia walked side by side down the hall to their rooms.
“Maybe I’ll be too tired to sleepwalk tonight.” Her cheeks colored a pretty shade of pink. Maybe she was thinking about what had happened last night because she avoided looking Oliver in the eye.
“I’ll be sure to lock my door.”
Her mouth fell open as her eyes met his, and she playfully smacked his arm. “Hey there.”
He laughed. “I deserved that.”
She stopped by her door and nodded toward his. “You’ll leave the door open, though, right? Just in case.”
“Of course, I will.” He gave her an understanding smile.
And then she hugged him. Her arms wrapped around his back, her chin came to rest against his shoulder, and her soft body molded into his in a full-on embrace. All the wires in his brain went haywire. The connections that should’ve been in fine working order were sparking and snapping as if overloaded, and his brain was no longer in control of what he was doing. His arms slid around her back as he held her body tightly against his. The beats of his heart were loud in his ears, and he could’ve sworn he felt hers pounding against his chest too. He knew he needed to let her go, but he didn’t move to do it, and neither did she. This felt good. Too good. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman in his arms like this. And she wasn’t there because she had sleepwalked, but because she chose to be this close to him.
“Olly?” she whispered.
“Yeah?” he replied, an unexpected hope brewing within.
“I feel so safe with you.”
The wires in his brain reconnected and righted themselves. The sudden attraction and physical response fizzled as he realized what this was really about. She was grateful to him for keeping her safe. That’s all this was to her.
He gave her a squeeze and let go.
“Goodnight, Olly.”
“Night, Addy.”
She gave him a shy glance over her shoulder and closed the door behind her.
He threw himself onto the bed in his room.
What was I thinking?