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“No. Not once. If anything, I wanted to do it for him.”
“I think that’s awesome,” I whisper, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
“Your turn,” Cade says, shifting toward me on the bed. I mimic him, moving my hands under the pillow.
“I wish I had memories of my mom, or something to tell you about her. She died giving birth to me, so I never really knew her. My dad doesn’t like to talk about her. The only one who did was my grandmother on my mom’s side. She would bring her pictures out to show me. Ones from when she was a little girl all the way up to pictures of her pregnant with me. Pictures can tell a story, but it’s not really the same, you know? Especially when you weren’t there when they happened. You can’t remember the sound of her laughter even though you can see she’s laughing. You can’t hear her voice while she holds up her cake or remember the way people sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. I’m not saying it isn’t nice to have the pictures, but pictures aren’t enough, you know?”
Cade blinks a few times. “I see what you’re saying. We take pictures to remember what we’ve already experienced.”
“Mmm,” I agree. “That sounded really poetic coming from a football player.”
“I’m a man of many talents.”
“Modest, too.”
“There’s no room for modesty when you’re me,” he says with a grin.
“You have an answer for everything. Have you realized that?”
“I wish,” he counters. “Because I’m still trying to figure out how to keep you like this. Talkative, smiling. Maybe a little interested in me?”
“Oh, now you’re pushing it.”
“See?”
I bite my lip. Being around Cade is easy. He doesn’t give me a chance to second-guess myself. He’s too busy talking or cracking jokes.
“You keep telling yourself no while I execute my master plan.”
“What’s that?”
“Worm my way into your heart.”
“You’ll have to let me know how that works for you.”
“I have a feeling I won’t have to tell you.”
My eyes flutter closed. When he first said he was sleeping in the room with me, I imagined some awkward scenario, but it’s far from that. “Goodnight, Cade.”
“Goodnight, Sunshine.”
Despite myself, I smile at the nickname.
A heavy weightthreatens to pull me under. It’s almost like coming out of a sleep paralysis episode, but the figure behind me moves, and my eyes fly open, heart palpitating.
“Shh, you’re okay.”
Cade’s voice.
I try to move away, but strong arms hold me in place. “You had a nightmare. You’re okay.”
Suddenly, I’m all too aware of how close he is. His arm is slung over my body, my ass nestled in his crotch. We’re spooning.
“Cade?”
“Who else would it be?” he asks sleepily.
“Cade, how did we get like this?” I shift and feel a hard poke in my backside.