“It’s not normal, is it?” I ask. “I know nothing. The only thing we have in common is our relatives being buried on the same day beside each other, and suddenly, we’re acting like a married couple.”
“Hardly. And we have lots more in common.”
“Like?”
He presses a kiss to the side of my head, it’s his way of telling me the conversation is over. I lay for a moment, silently fuming over his dismissal. It’s not good enough, so I turn in his arms, something I never do. He stares at me, and I stare back. “What do we have in common?”
“We can’t sleep alone,” he mutters, and for a second, I see a flicker of vulnerability. “I hadn’t slept properly for a long time before I met you. It caused me all kinds of issues, but things have been better since you so . . . so that’s what we have in common.”
“What happens when you meet someone else?”
“I won’t.” He closes his eyes.
“But if you do?”
“I won’t.”
“So, you’re gonna sneak into my bed forever?” I laugh.
“Yep.”
“What if I meet someone else?”
“You won’t.” I bite my lower lip because deep down, I have no desire to meet anyone else. The truth is, I look forward to Nyx climbing through my window every night. I like that his company is enough. He’s not asking me for anything else. He just wants to lay with me. My heart swells with emotion, and I gently press my lips against his, holding them there. His eyes spring open and he stares back, but still I remain there, our lips pressed together.
“You don’t want to do this,” he eventually whispers.
“I do.”
“Andi, you don’t know what you’re signing up for.”
“Show me,” I whisper.
I kiss him, really kiss him, and after a few seconds, he kisses me back, placing his hand on my cheek and tilting his head to take it deeper. I run a hand over his shirt, feeling his muscles tensing underneath. I want to see him naked so badly, and I reach for the hem and help pull his shirt over his head. I throw it to the floor and stare breathlessly at his toned torso. Nyx’s tattoos cover his chest, and I run my hands over him. Our mouths clash together again, and I grab the buckle on his belt, desperately trying to loosen it. Suddenly, his hands grab mine, stilling them. He pulls back and stares at me through wide eyes. “We can’t,” he whispers.
“Why?”
He shakes his head, confusion washing over him. “We just can’t.” He falls from my bed and swipes his shirt from the floor, pulling it over his head. “Sorry.” I watch as he disappears back through the window. What the hell was that about?
“Iwant to show you something,” I tell Beth when I manage to catch her coming home from work. She gives me a look that tells me she’s still mad, but she reluctantly follows me back into my house. The dress is hanging proudly on the back of the kitchen door, zipped safely inside a dress bag. “I know Rebecca probably won’t want it, but I made her dress. It’s an apology for the way I’ve behaved.” She watches as I unzip it and slip it from the plastic. I hear her intake of breath and glance back over my shoulder, smiling at the way she’s got her mouth covered with her hands, it’s the exact reaction I was hoping for. “I know, right? It’s nice.”
“Nice!” she repeats. “Andi, that’s stunning! And you did this?”
I nod, biting my lower lip. “I lost my job at the shop and a friend got me a sewing machine. I had nothing else to do.”
“Why did you lose your job?”
I half smile. “You know Cruella hated me. She was looking for an excuse to get rid of me.”
“Oh god, it’s because of Rebecca, isn’t it? Because she cancelled the dress?”
“It wasn’t her fault. I’d have done the same.”
Beth looks around the spotless kitchen. “You cleaned up?”
I nod. “Yeah, and Dad’s getting help. Things are getting better.”
She smiles. “That’s great, Andi. Really good. And this friend you mentioned?”