“What are you doing?” Rialta asks, looking up from her phone.
“Getting ready for bed.”
“You can do that downstairs.”
I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you alone, not after what happened just now. And I haven’t forgotten you’re liable to sneak out in the middle of the night. I want a good night’s sleep for once.”
“You won’t get a good night’s sleep next to me. Sleep on the floor.”
“No.” I throw the covers back after I’m down to my briefs and climb into bed next to her.
“If we are going to stay in this apartment, then I want to sleep in my own bed again. I’m not going to sleep on the couch forever.”
There is no way I’m letting her sleep by herself again. It’s too risky. The only way I’ll get any sleep is next to her in bed, even if she drives me absolutely crazy. If she’s kidnapped or dead, this will all be for nothing.
“I snore,” she says.
I shrug, pulling the covers up. “I’ll wear some earplugs if it bothers me.”
“I roll around a lot in my sleep.”
“You’ll learn to roll around on just one side.”
“I fart a lot. I smell horrible. You won’t be able to stand it.”
I chuckle. “So do I.”
There’s a hint of a smile on her face before I turn off the lamp. But once the darkness descends, we are both quiet. We don’t speak, but we’re doing the same thing—listening for any signs of monsters in the night while ensuring that neither of us develops any feelings for the other.
Chapter21
Lennox
“Damn,you really do fart a lot in your sleep,” I say as a morning greeting.
She rolls over toward me and shoves her face into the pillow, hiding her embarrassment. I suspect it has more to do with the moaning and writhing she was doing in her sleep this morning than any smell. She doesn’t smell; I’m just trying to make her smile and see there’s no reason to be embarrassed. I’m sure her sex dream this morning was about Kit, her supposed true love.
She throws her pillow at my head. “You should sleep on the ground tonight, so you don’t have to smell my farts.”
“Just downstairs? People walking by in the hallway are passing out from your stink.”
“They aren’t that bad.”
With a disgusted face, I jump out of bed and beat her to the bathroom, shutting the door in her face.
She slams her hand on the door a moment later. “Dammit, Lennox! I really have to pee.”
I smirk, taking my sweet time.
When I come out, she’s somehow finished all the coffee in the apartment, as well as Gage and Hayes’s coffee stash next door.
I use all of the hot water showering.
She hides all of the food except for some kimchi and a bottle of ketchup.
I accidentally break her phone charger, so her phone dies by mid-afternoon.
She gets red wine all over my favorite sweatshirt.