I stared at the man snoring away, his mouth half-open. Even in his ridiculous state, he was beautiful. I forced my gaze away from his face. “You might be sleeping in jeans, but I am not.”
I riffled through his dresser until I found a t-shirt and some sweatpants with a drawstring. I’d swim in them, but at least I could tie the string tight. I went to the bathroom and changed. When I got out, Calder had turned onto his side, facing the opposite side of the bed. It was a better position in case he got sick in the night, but I really hoped he didn’t.
I moved slowly towards the bed. Calder, Hayes, and I had gone camping together a number of times when we were younger. We’d shared a single tent, but that was as close as I’d ever come to sharing a bed with Calder.
I grabbed a blanket from the overstuffed chair in the corner and eased onto the bed. Crawling under the covers felt like taking it a step too far. I laid back on the pillows and pulled the blanket up around me.
Calder stirred, his eyes opening. “Little Daredevil.”
“Hi.”
“Hi.” His gaze bored into me as if he could see every scar and still-bleeding wound. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Hurting you. You’re the last person I’d ever want to hurt.” He was quiet for a moment, his eyes falling closed. “You were my air.”
12
Calder
The first thingI felt was what seemed like a mini jackhammer on the inside of my skull. The second was that my mouth was as dry as the Sahara. But the third had me freezing.
It was warmth. So much warmth pressed against my front. I was curled around a petite form, and my body wasn’t mad about it. It felt right. As if we were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly.
I searched my mind, flipping through a series of memories and reaching for the last concrete one. Hayes and me at the Wolf Gap Bar & Grill. The whiskey I’d opted for instead of beer.
Hayes knew better than to let me take some random woman home when I had the girls. Hell.
I slowly peeled my eyes open. The light streaming in from the window hurt, and I had to blink a few times before my vision focused. When it finally did, my heart gave a healthy spasm against my ribs.
Hair so blond it almost looked white cascaded around slender shoulders. A face relaxed in sleep but so damn beautiful it almost hurt to look at. Pink cheeks and bow lips. And my body pressed firmly against Hadley, almost cocooning her.
How the hell had Hadley ended up in my bed? My body gave a small jerk as my mind finally caught up with the reality of the situation. Hadley was in my bed.
As I scrambled back, Hadley startled awake. “Wha—? Are you okay? Are you sick?”
I looked back at her as the drumbeat in my head intensified. “What are you doing here? Did we? We didn’t, right?”
Pain lanced across Hadley’s features. “Nothing happened. I just stayed with you to make sure you didn’t choke on your own vomit. Trust me, I’m well aware that you find me repulsive.”
I blinked a few times. The last thing I found Hadley was repulsive. Her beauty was a living and breathing thing that wove around a person. Not just the physical that heated your blood and made you question your sanity. No, it was more than that. She had a beauty burned into her, and it manifested in the most surprising ways. In how she connected with others. In the fact that she could make the most ordinary of experiences extraordinary. In how she lived every moment to the fullest.
“I don’t find you repulsive.”
Hadley scoffed. “Okay, fine. Now that I know you’re not going to stop breathing, I’m going to go before the girls wake up.”
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and started to get up, but I caught her arm, pulling her back to the bed. “Don’t go.”
Her eyes flared and her jaw hardened. “Why? I don’t need to be reminded of all the reasons you would freak out by finding me in your bed.”
“I don’t want you to go.” The single sentence was beyond lacking. But it was also the truth. I never wanted Hadley to go. It was playing with fire, having her so close, but I couldn’t help myself. “Stay and let me take you and the girls to breakfast. It’s the least I can do to thank you.”
Hadley’s gaze swept over my face, searching for something. The truth, maybe? I didn’t look away.
“I wasn’t disgusted to find you in my bed. I just—I don’t remember much about last night and that freaked me out.” If Hadley was in my bed, I wanted to remember every second.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping a bit. “I’d probably be freaked, too. But you know what? You deserved it. You were drunk as a skunk last night. And you snore. Loud.”