And with that, I deepen our embrace, and we stay there, kissing under a blanket of twinkling lights, until our lips are raw and our poutine grows cold.
ChapterTwenty-Six
Jack Parker
Play:Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls
“Maybe she went for a run?” The muffled panic of Emy’s voice forces me awake. I blink against the unfamiliar filtering of light from an east-facing window. The guest room shouldn’t be getting this much sun yet.
A heavy arm drapes across my bare chest, tightening as its owner presses further into the side of my body.
Aulie.
This isn’t a dream. She’s right here, flush against me in her cute-ass PJs. Warmth radiates from every point of contact, and for once, I don’t suffocate the fire that flickers in the core of my chest from our touch. I let it burn, relishing the soft heat that licks my nerve endings awake.
I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. We only came in here to talk some more, but that led to cuddling, and somehow, Aulie fell asleep on me almost immediately. She’s had such a hard time sleeping lately that I didn’t dare try to wake her up. I wanted to sneak away to the guest room, but she didn’t stir while I was conscious.
Gus’s heavy footsteps sound on the other side of the door, coming closer. Shit. I really shouldn’t have stayed so long last night.
“Her running shoes are still by the door.”
“Maybe an errand, then.”
“No, her car’s here, too. Right next to Jack’s. Didn’t he say he had an early morning skate he had to get to?”
I wince. Yup. And I’m definitely missing that, too.
“That’s weird.” Emy laughs; it’s high and tense—and way too close to the hard oak door. “And you’re sure she knew when you were taking her out for breakfast?”
“Yeah, I told her we had to leave around eight because I have a meeting in Manchester later today. Did you two have coffee this morning? I thought you went outside.”
“I did, and she… she texted me she was going to sleep some more. All that lack of sleep must have finally caught up to her.”
“Weird, she didn’t text me—I’m just going to make sure she’s okay.” Aulie’s doorknob turns.
“Gus. No, she deserves her privacy.”
“And I’m giving it to her. I’m just making sure she didn’t have one of her damn fainting spells and knocked herself out on her desk or something.”
Fainting spells? My brow furrows, glancing at Aulie burrowed against my chest. Her caramel locks flow onto the pillow, glittering in the beams of the streaming light.
I should escape out the window, but there’s a certain peacefulness that’s settled on Aulie’s face and like hell am I going to mess that up.
My eyes trace the curve of her lips, remembering how soft and welcoming they felt against mine last night. Her surrender to my touch was a welcome surprise, like the pulling tension I’ve always felt between us wasn’t the one-way street I thought. Whatever ass-kicking Gus will give me for this, I’ll take it. She’s worth every fist to the face or yelling match I’m about to endure.
“No, Gus, I’m serious. I’m sure she’s—”
A sliver of light leaks in the room before it becomes a vast chasm, and doom floods the room in a seventy-five-watt, table-lamp hue.
“Alouette? Are you in here?” Gus peeks in, his gaze landing on Aulie’s empty desk first and then slicing to her bed.
I only have half a second to decide how to play this without waking her—and I decide not to move. So my bare chest is on full display in the bed, my hand perched behind my head, and Aulie’s plastered on me with nothing but a thin lace camisole covering her top half.
I try my best to flash Gus an apologetic smile as a scowl slowly takes residence on his face. “Heyyyy, buddy.”
“The fuck, Parker?” he whispers.
I open my mouth to issue an explanation like,So, funny story, I’ve been in love with your sister for years, and I finally told her.But Aulie nuzzles deeper into me, my heart somersaults, and I get distracted, a cheesy grin creeping across my face as I watch her.
