Page 58 of In Love and War

“Like what…?” I asked, immediately skeptical.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door outside.

“Don’t move,” he said before lifting himself off me and leaving the room.

I stayed put and stared at the ceiling, a million different thoughts rushing through my head, most of them around my impression and image of Zac and how quickly it was all changing.

In my mind he had always been a cold, intolerable, selfish asshole. I had never questioned it. But over the last few weeks he had proved me wrong, more than once.

I heard some noises at the door and footsteps that told me he was coming back, but I smelled it before he was even in my line of sight. I sprung up on the bed just as he walked in, holding a box of…

“You got pizza?” My stomach instantly growled. I hadn’t had dinner yet, and I wasstarving.

He smiled at my excitement as he opened the box and placed it on the nightstand.

“I take it you’re hungry?” he said, handing me a plate with two pieces.

“You have no idea. Is this what you were doing on your phone?”

Unreal.

“I got hungry when you were looking around. You really took your time,” he admitted.

“We’re eating here?” There was a perfectly good dining table just outside.

“Yes, we are.”

“Why?” I asked, taking a bite.

“Because I want to watch a movie and eat pizza in bed,” he informed me, picking up the remote.

“Whoareyou?” I asked, gazing up at him.

“Told you I wasn’t kicking you out of bed. I’m a lot of things, but a madman is not one.”

Within minutes we were settled in bed with the pillows propped up perfectly to support our backs, eating pizza, and watching the opening scene of the comedy.

“This is amazing.” I had to give him the credit—it was exactly what I needed after an extremely long day. It wasn’t easy getting through the workday on zero sleep.

I hadn’t felt this relaxed and happy in a long time. My stomach was full, the buzz from the wine was keeping me warm, and Zac’s occasional commentary was just as funny as the movie itself.

The last thing I remember was telling myself not to fall asleep as I giggled at something Rebel Wilson had just said on the screen.

It waspitch-black when I woke up, and it took a second to remember where I was as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The clock on the nightstand, the only source of light in the room, informed me that it was a little past midnight.

Shit.

I hadn’t meant to fall asleep here. I was under the covers and couldn’t remember when that had happened, but there was something else. Zac’s arm was slung over my hip from behind me.

Careful not to disturb him, I decided to slowly slide out of the bed so I could go back to my room. But as soon as my hips moved, his arm tightened around me and he pulled me into an embrace, pressing my back up against his chest.

“Don’t even think about it,” he mumbled into my hair.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I can go,” I whispered back.

“Stop running away from me, Amelia,” he grumbled, half-asleep.

I could feel his chest rise and fall at a slow and steady pace against my back. He was so warm.