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Chapter seventeen

Anna

A ny islander knows the combined stress and sweet relief of being the last car on the ferry. Watching the vehicles ahead inch forward while you’re at the mercy of the man wearing the high visibility vest and the glowing traffic control baton.

“Please, please, please,” I beg, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.

It’s merely a numbers game, but I pretend that my pleading played a role as I drive down the ramp into the belly of the ship. I could stay in my car and sleep, but I’m starving. Almost everything at the terminal was closed as the wind caused delays and multi-sailing waits. Learning how to improve as a hair stylist is usually a dream, but this week away was a nightmare. My budget hotel room had crappy water pressure that barely rinsed the conditioner from my hair, I tossed and turned without my night lights, and now I’m on the absolute last ferry. I still have a forty-minute drive ahead of me.

The trip is rockier than anyone would like. My stomach roils as I pick at a stale muffin and try tiny sips of ginger tea that burns my hand through the paper cup. I rest my cheek on the cold glass of the window next to me, wishing it wasn’t dark so I could distract myself with watching tree covered islands and passing vessels. Was part of the reason this trip sucked so bad because I had someone to miss? When the intercom announces our approach to Departure Bay, I’m among the first to return to my car. I don’t want to go home to my quiet apartment. To the empty bed and fridge. Besides, Chris’s place is closer by fifteen minutes. I think of the way he held me close while I sunk into a deep sleep after giving me that delicious orgasm. When I yawn so hard my eyes water, my mind is made up.

***

Forty-five minutes later I’m standing outside Chris’s door in a freaking windstorm, alternating between holding my hand up to knock and turning back around to face my car. I feel stupid. Like, monumentally stupid. Why the hell would he be happy to see me when I’m about to wake him up in the middle of the night? On the next particularly icy gust of I rap my frozen knuckles against the door and try to keep my legs from running away down the driveway like I’m playing Nicky Nicky Nine Doors. Inside, a light clicks on and a second later the door swings open to reveal a very bleary-eyed Chris. He scrubs a hand down his face as he processes me standing on his doorstep.

“I’m so sorry for waking you up—”

The next thing I know, his warm hand is wrapped around my wrist, and I’m tugged inside, the howl of the wind cut off as the door swings shut behind us. I attempt to blow a damp strand of hair out of my face, suddenly aware that I likely resemble a wet towel. Chris’s spicy smell surrounds me as he steps in and begins to run his hands over my face, my head, down my body. I’m wondering why he’s rushing through his touches when it clicks. He’s checking me over to make sure I’m safe. I might be a bit freaked if someone randomly showed up soaking wet at my house too.

“I’m okay,” I croak. “I just…missed you.”

His expression softens, a sweet smile on his lips as he scratches his neck. If I thought cosy evening Chris was hot, that’s only because I’d yet to meet middle-of-the-night pyjama pants Chris.

“You came here to be with me?” He sounds a bit awestruck over it.

“Yeah.” I examine my hands, red and raw from the cold. “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

He scoffs in response, peeling my coat off.

“Did you…did you just get back?” He’s still waking up and his hair is all sticky-uppy at the back.

I rub my tired eyes. “I came right from the ferry.”

“In this weather?”

“Almost didn’t make it back tonight.”

My lip trembles which is so wimpy. It’s not like I took a dinghy to get here.

And because he looks like he truly cares, I launch into all the other things that are bothering me.

“My hotel was terrible. There were people partying next door and I couldn’t get to sleep until late every night. The course I took was good but the days were way longer than they said and so I got stuck in traffic and missed my ferry reservation and then the winds picked up—” I gasp a breath so I can finish. “And my mom won’t stop calling me because I haven’t called her back which I know you think is dumb because you obviously have the perfect relationship with your parents but—”

“Whoa, Anna. Honey.” He holds me firm around the shoulders like he’s keeping me from running away with my next train of thought.

I snap my mouth closed.

“Those are all…daytime problems.”

“Daytime problems? Are you one of those guys who rolls over and turns off his brain until morning?”

“Yes. It’s easier to figure them out in the light of day. Are you hungry?”

I shake my head.

“Tired?”

I nod.

“You’re practically swaying, honey.”

He scoops me in his arms and carries me to his bedroom. A blur of fur barrels through the doorway right between Chris’s feet.

“Why the hell is everyone awake right now?”

I stifle my giggle at his grumpy, gravelly nighttime voice.

He sets me down and starts rifling through his drawers.

“Here.” He holds out a t-shirt and jerks his head to the hall. “Bathroom is there. Should be a spare toothbrush under the sink.”

After I slip into the soft shirt that only just covers my butt and brush my teeth I tip-toe into his room. It’s so dark but knowing he’s close keeps me calm. I don’t know what side of the bed he sleeps on and I choose wrong because when I put my hand out to feel for the bed a warm hand wraps around mine and then I’m flat on the mattress with gasp. I’m not wearing any underwear and now the t-shirt is riding up.

“Get comfy. It’s bedtime.”

I have almost no space. “Okay. Are you gonna move over or…”

“Nope.”

“Maybe I should go to the other side?” I suggest.

I hear him sigh into the dark and then he arranges me so I’m the littlest spoon that ever spooned. My ass is wedged firmly into the hollow of his hips and his arm is slung over me, tucked beneath my breasts. The worries I arrived with aren’t something I need to take care of right now. Like Chris said, they are daytime problems.

“Sorry again for waking—”

He grunts. “If we’re going to be spending a lot of nights together, we need to sort out all this nighttime talking.”

Fresh energy surges through me at the thought of spending nights like this on the regular. I bet he can feel my thumping heart against his chest.

“Shh, Annie. Get some sleep. I’m glad you’re here. ”

And it’s that admission that calms me, slowing my heart and my busy brain so I can drift off to sleep in Chris’s strong arms.