SEVENTEEN
When we finished eating,we dropped our plates on the floor and tugged the blankets over our legs. Zed was on his pillow, and I was on mine, and there was a decent amount of space between us.
“This is awkward,” Zed whispered.
“I know,” I whispered back.
He snorted, and I fought a grin.
“Should we, like, snuggle?” I wondered, still speaking quietly.
“We can try it.”
I scooted over, and managed to roll right into Zed’s arms so our chests met with an “oof”.
He grinned down at me, and I bit back a laugh as I grinned back at him.
“Hey there,” he remarked.
“Hey.” I tried to fight my grin, but it didn’t budge. “We’re so weird.”
“Nah. New, maybe. Not weird.”
“New and weird go together like peanut butter and jelly, Zed.”
His grin widened, and damn, it was contagious. His lips dipped to mine, and the kiss was cautious at first. Then our tongues met, and any caution went out the window.
Zed rolled to his back, pulling me on top of him as he went, our lips never detaching. One of his hands cupped the back of my head, and the other rested firmly on my lower back. The kiss was toe-curlingly sweet, my damp hair falling around us to form a curtain of sorts.
He pulled away a minute later, both of us still breathing a bit quickly. “I feel like I probably should’ve started with that, earlier. Instead of just… attacking you.”
I laughed breathlessly. “I liked it when you attacked me. But I like this too.”
“Good.” His lips brushed my forehead, and I settled on top of his chest. There was a long, peaceful moment, and I felt so damn relaxed it was almost blissful. After a pause, he murmured, “I have bad news.”
My whole body seemed to constrict. “What?”
“I sleep on my stomach,” he whispered.
A relieved sigh escaped me, before I hissed, “Bastard.”
He gave a low chuckle as I rolled off of him, and I swatted at his head.
“You sleep on your back,” he pointed out.
“How do you know that?”
“We were in bed together for ages when I was recovering from the hunt, June. You may have thought I wasn’t paying attention to you, but every time I was awake, I was memorizing every damn thing about you that I could. I was just giving you space.”
“You’re way too romantic for me,” I said to the ceiling.
He chuckled. “You’ll come around eventually.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I mumbled back.
“You should.” He rolled to his stomach, and his side pressed against mine. The contact was familiar, and it relaxed me. I missed feeling his bare legs on mine, but wasn’t sure I should ask him to take his pants off. That seemed like a weird thing to ask.
“I wish you were still naked in this bed,” Zed mumbled into the pillow.