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“Do you mind if I stay with you until you fall asleep?” he asked.

Hannah looked up from straightening her clothes, and tha

t warm, welcoming smile was almost his undoing.

“You can stay the whole night if you want.”

Blake didn’t respond right away, mostly because cuddling with Hannah was one thing, but sleeping over was a step he needed to think harder about. Maybe go over with Dr. Stabler . . .

Blake almost laughed out loud. For a guy who had been so against therapy just a month ago, he sure had become dependent on it.

“Maybe another night. We’ve got plenty of time for you to get to know all my really bad sleeping habits.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Well, I’m a bit of a bed hog. I’ll kick you right off this queen-size bed so I can stretch out.”

Hannah laughed softly. “I snore.”

As he settled in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, he breathed in the fruity scent. “Everybody snores, babe. It’s not a deal breaker. I just figured we can continue to take his slow. Okay?”

Hannah stroked his forearm gently. “Okay.”

The only sounds in the room were of their gentle breathing, and for a second, Blake thought she’d fallen asleep already.

“Thank you for knocking,” she whispered.

Her words made him laugh, and he kissed her hair. “Thanks for opening up.”

“Oh, come on. Like you really thought I was going to leave you standing out on the porch?”

“Hey, you were angry Hannah for a while, and I never know what to expect from her.”

She turned and tilted her head to look up at him, her gaze soft. “I like less angry Blake.”

Blake stiffened at her words, but when she reached up to cup his cheek, there was no judgement on her face. “I just mean that you used to come into Dale’s so angry some days, like there was a black cloud following you around. Even when you smiled, there was such a sadness to it. And now I know why. I’m just glad that I get to hear you laugh, that’s all I meant.”

He relaxed, her words sinking in, and he brushed her lips with his. “If I’ve changed, it’s because of you. You do things to me no one else can.”

Hannah sighed against his mouth and turned to snuggle into his chest. Even when he heard her breathing slow down after she fell asleep, he was afraid to move. Realization dawned on him that it was true. No one had ever made him feel the way Hannah did, and he found himself pulling her tighter against him.

There was no way he could lose Hannah. He wouldn’t survive it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“YOU ARE A freaking sadist!”

Blake laughed at Hannah’s breathless shout as she jogged next to him, sweat rolling down her temples. In the last week, slow had pretty much been thrown out the window. Now that they were officially together and seeing each other every day, Blake’s opinion on sleepovers had adjusted. Especially when things got pretty heated on the front porch of his or her place and they found themselves doing some heavy making out on the couch and migrating to the bedroom. They still hadn’t had sex, although the foreplay was fantastic. It had been a week of touching, tasting, and pretty much driving each other crazy, so Blake had suggested that on this beautiful Sunday morning in March, Hannah go jogging with him to help blow off some of the sexual frustration.

At first, she’d been against it, citing that she hadn’t run in a long time and she couldn’t keep up, but he’d promised to stick with her, which he’d been doing, like any good boyfriend would.

Boyfriend. It was definitely going to take some getting used to, but things had been really good between them. No more confusion, just the two of them back to discovering new things about each other.

“You just need to get your muscles used to it, and it won’t be so hard.”

“Lies. You just want me to go with you again so you can mock my pain.”

“Come on, you’re doing great, and we’re almost to the end of the trail.”