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“Because I think Laura is on the other side of that door,” I whispered, jabbing my finger at the front door.
“And you want her to think you just woke up.”
“Exactly.”
“Were you awake?”
“No.”
“Then why do you need to pretend you were sleeping?”
Rolling my eyes, I tiptoed closer. “If I open the door and act like I was expecting her, it reeks of desperation. But if I’m rubbing my eyes and act all confused, then she’ll know that I wasn’t waiting for her to show up.”
“But you weren’t waiting for her to show up,” he said in confusion.
“Right, but I don’t want her to know that. Or wait… I do? Fuck, I’m so confused.”
“How about you just open the door, genius?”
I glared at him, then turned back to the door and slumped my shoulders. I rubbed my eyes, hoping it would make me appear sleepy, then unlocked the door. As I expected, Laura was standing on the other side. What I didn’t expect was for her to be in her pajamas and slippers.
My sleepy act forgotten, I immediately shifted to concern. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she scoffed, laughing slightly. “I just…wanted to make sureyouwere okay.”
“Um…I’m good.”
“Good,” she nodded. “That’s good.”
“Are you good?”
“Totally.”
“Okay,” I said in confusion, not sure where she was going with this. Unless… “Did you want to come in?”
“What? No,” she waved me off. But she bit her lip and peered around me like she was dying to come inside. “I was more concerned that…that you couldn’t sleep.”
And now I understood. She got used to sleeping with me, and much like I had, she probably tossed and turned without the extra body in bed with her.
“Actually, I had to take a pill. I was just staring at the ceiling.”
It wasn’t entirely true. Yes, it was harder to fall asleep without her, but I eventually dozed off. However, I didn’t want her to feel like she was weird for not sleeping beside me. And maybe she would come inside and join me upstairs if she thought I couldn’t sleep. Which was exactly the reaction I got.
“I’m so sorry. Do you want me to come upstairs? I mean, I can leave if you want?—”
“No!” I said, snatching her hand in mine and dragging her inside. “Actually, I would sleep better if you were with me.”
“Okay. I mean, I don’t want to impose.”
“No imposition. It’s weird how my mind got used to having you here.”
And my body. I’d been hard all fucking night, even in my sleep. And now that she was standing in front of me again, I was doing everything possible to keep the little general from saluting her.
Brock was mysteriously absent when I turned around and headed upstairs. Now that Laura was with me again, I finally felt normal. And as soon as we walked through the door to my bedroom, a smile tilted my lips. She didn’t waste any time crawling into bed, then waited for me to lay down so she could snuggle into me. I laid my arm across her pillow and she rested her head on my shoulder. Her warm hand laid on my chest just over my heart. How was it possible that we weren’t a couple when this felt so right?
As soon as I thought that, I was reminded that she hadn’t been here because of her date with the fireman. Anger quickly washed over me at the thought of him kissing her. It wasn’t rational or even right, but Icouldn’t help my reactions to her anymore. So, instead of acting like a douchebag, I did the next best thing. I acted like her friend.
“So, how did the date go?”