“No,” her word is a whisper.
“And you’re trusting me to take care of you?”
“Yes, Gaz, but I feel a little scared, and I’m sorry. I feel totally humiliated. Can we just…can we take it slow?”
“Of course we can take it slow, Hayden. We don’t have to do anything tonight, and just so we’re clear, this does not change how I feel about you.”
“Okay,” she breathes a sigh of relief and snuggles back against me. “Thank you, Gaz.”
“I love you, Hayden.”
Chapter 7
Hayden
I wake up the next morning wrapped in Gaz’s arms. They’re strong, and he’s holding me tightly against himself, but I’m not scared. I don’t feel nervous or afraid. I just feel cared for.
“Good morning,” he says.
“Hi,” I wiggle around to look at him. We slept with my back to his chest. I’m a little surprised I managed to sleep like that all night. Considering that I’ve slept alone my entire life, sleeping with someone wasn’t as difficult as I expected it would be.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Hard,” I admit. “Usually I wake up a couple of times during the night, but I didn’t last night.”
“Nightmares?”
“Sometimes.”
“I’m glad you slept well. I did, too.”
“You look surprised about that,” I smile.
“I’m not used to sleeping with someone.”
“You don’t let your girlfriends sleep over?” I ask.
“You know I haven’t had a girlfriend since I left home,” he tells me.
“But you’ve slept with people.”
“Most adults have,” Gaz says. “Does that bother you? That I have a past?”
“Not really. Maybe it should, but I think there are worse things in life than dating someone who knows his way around a woman’s body.”
“Are we dating, then?” He smiles, and I playfully slap his chest.
“We did say those three little words.”
“I meant them, Hayden.”
“I meant them, too.”
Gaz kisses me, but then he pulls away and climbs out of bed.
“I would love to stay here all day with you,” he tells me. “But sadly, duty calls.”
“Time to deal with Trevor,” I say knowingly.