“You’re sleeping in my bed.”Way to go, Captain Obvious. That was a stellar observation.
My eyes burned, and I rubbed the heel of my hand against one before I set it back against his chest. I had nowhere else to put it as long as I was plastered to his side. I’d found a way to work my right arm under his pillow somehow and there was something nice about the weight of his head on the pillow and then my arm.
With a groan, Jake turned his head and pressed a kiss to the top of my head while trailing his fingers lightly against my upper arm. “You fell asleep—well, actually, we kind of both did. But sleeping sitting up sucks, so I carried you in here.” Another yawn. “Then I kind of didn’t want to go… If you want me to leave, I’ll get dressed.”
It would have been hard to miss the note of complaint in his voice. Easing up a little, I squinted at him in the dark. The steady beat of his heart under my palm was awkward and at the same time familiar. It was hardly the first time we’d had a sleepover, though typically we planned it. The guys hadn’t slept on my bed or me on theirs in a few years. We had when we were kids, but the sleepovers had grown limited to big parties and usually at Archie’s where there was room in the guesthouse for all of us to spread out.
This was… different.
“Frankie?” he sounded more awake. “I’ll go. It’s fine…”
“No,” I said slowly, more reluctant to kick him out than to let him stay. “Mom’s out of town.” It wasn’t like we’d get in trouble.
“Cool,” he yawned the last of the word and urged me back down with his hand against my back. This time I curled up to him, trying to ignore the heat of his leg against mine, and the way his heart thudded against my ear even if I rested on his shoulder. He stroked his hand over my shoulder and down my arm in light, easy gestures.
I wasn’t really sure I could go back to sleep, even if I’d been exhausted earlier. Awareness swept through me at each breath he exhaled. The firmness of the muscle under my hand made me want to trace the rigid lines. He was wearing a shirt, but only boxers I was pretty sure. I’d seen Jake shirtless plenty of times. He was cut.
“Frankie,” he murmured in a drowsy voice. “You okay?”
“Not sure I can sleep like this.” It was kind of embarrassing to admit. He felt good.Realgood. Even tired, I kind of didn’t want to miss it.
“Mmm…fix it…” The bed bounced a little as he rolled over, tumbling me onto my back, but before I could adjust, he had an arm around my middle. Then I was on my side, my back flush to his chest with one of his legs tucked between mine and both of his arms around me, one hand flat against my breast bone, just above said breasts and the other on my abdomen. The tank top rucked a little which let his fingers rest against my skin.
It was so much better.
And so much worse.
Then Jake nuzzled a kiss behind my ear. “Go to sleep. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Weirdly, even when I thought the last thing I’d be able to do was sleep, I must have because the next time I opened my eyes hints of daylight edged the window, but it was still mostly dark in the room and my alarm hadn’t gone off. Jake’s arm rested around my middle, his grip having loosened, but he hadn’t moved away. I’d rolled a little more to my front and he draped my back like the best heated blanket ever.
Jake is sleeping in my bed.
A little thrill accompanied that thought. Running my fingers lightly over his hand, I traced the lines of it and then lined my hand up against the back of his. I must have woken him, because he caught my hand in his and then pressed his lips against the back of my shoulder.
“Morning,” he rumbled, the prickle of his stubble scraping at me with each word. “Not time to get up yet.”
“I don’t know what time it is,” I admitted, I pulled his hand up, holding it to my chest. It curved his biceps right across my breast and I considered changing the position of his hand, but I didn’t really want to move it.
With a groan, he squeezed my hand and let me go before he rolled onto his back. Turning fully on my stomach, I lifted on my elbows to get a better view as he reached lifted his phone off the side table. The sudden light from the screen had me squinting, but also gave me my first real good look at a rumpled Jake, face covered in new growth, and his hair in disarray. This was Jake. Not the smooth football player who always took care with his appearance to look good at school.
The rugged, unpolished side was even more attractive, if that were possible, and my stomach tightened as I studied him.
“It’s just barely six.” He dropped his arm with the phone and then turned his head to look at me. My eyes were still a little dazzled from the lit screen. “Hey...”
“Hi,” I whispered, suddenly shy and rather glad his screen had gone off. It gave me somewhere to hide while I got my shit together.
Jake rolled to his side and then he was just right there, close enough I could feel his breath on my cheek. He must have brushed his teeth the night before—crap, I hadn’t—because he did not smell bad. At all. In fact, all I could smell was Jake. That night when I went to bed, my sheets were going to smell like him, too.
The idea made me grin.
When he brushed his fingers against my cheek, then began to comb my hair away from my face, I sighed. That was nice.
“Sleep well?”
It was a weird question, but not…
“Pretty good,” I admitted. “A little weird when I realized you were still here.”