“You can fall asleep. It’s okay,” Remy assures me, like this isn’t my house. He’s really fucking cute when he’sstoned. “I have the box set, and I have it saved on my stream list.”
There is no way I want him to go home like this. Those things can take between three and five hours to wear off. Considering I’m almost twice his size in mass, I don’t see him coming back tothe land of blushing when he says silly shit any time soon. Not that I mind.
“I have a TV in my room,” I suggest.
“I know. IloveTV.”
I snort, watching his thousand-yard stare as he shoves another bite of marshmallow-y goodness into his mouth. Yeah. Gummies were definitely a good idea. For Remy, at least. I don’t know that they did much for me, but that’s probably a good thing. They took the edge off a bit and certainly provided me with some interesting entertainment.
“You should come to my room,” I clarify, feeling the slow scrape of my eyelids over my eyes.
His jaw stops moving, and his hand freezes in mid-air. Funny howthatregistered quickly. He turns his head, and I swear he’s looking right at my mouth.
“Okay.”
With that, he hops up, wrappers toppling to the floor, and does a one-eighty. I gape, watching him round the couch and then tromp straight to my room. Well, not exactly straight—his movements are more animated than usual, taking him on a bit of a zigzag route.
Oh, my gosh. No more gummies for Remy, ever.
Chuckling, I peel myself off the couch and yawn again, suddenly aware of how exhausted each of my appendages feels. Holy shit. Maybe Iwastaken down by a tiny little gummy bear.
I turn off the living room TV and head to my room. Remy drops his pants, kicks them off like an angry toddler, and then pulls back my comforter. I’m not even sure if he knows I’m standing in the doorway trying not to laugh. For all the times I thought about having sex with him, I can’t believe I’m thinking this right now—I hope to hell gummy bears don’t make people horny, because I’m way too damn tired.
Gale hops up on the bed and looks at him like she’s asking for approval. He pats the top of the comforter next to him. “Come here, girl.”
I watch in awe. She finds a spot, plopping down right next to him. What a traitor.
Flipping on my TV, I manage to bring up the Vampire Diaries where we left off and slide in under the covers next to him. I situate one of my many pillows under my knees just the way I like it while Remy stares at the TV in a trance, idly petting Gale. I can’t believe we’re in a bed, not having sex, and how natural that feels. I really like it.
Reaching over, I find his hand and rub my thumb over it, just wanting to be connected somehow. I want to thank him for being him and being here, doing nothing. Doing nothing with him turned out to not be boring at all.
His hand slips out from under mine, though. I wonder if I’ve made a misstep, but he rolls, and the next thing I know, he flings his arm across my chest. Nestled close to my side, he rests his head on my shoulder and makes a contented noise.
Some of his non-gummy-bear brain cells must catch up as I lie here stunned, because he asks, “This okay?”
It’s muffled, his mouth squished against the front of my shoulder. The irony of how we’ve somehow gone from pawing at each other with very few words back in the day to asking permission for the slightest of touches is not lost on me. I don’t know if it was the gummy, but despite the dull ache in my bones, I feel more at peace than I have been in a long time. Maybe we both just needed to grow up a little.
Sliding my arm underneath him, I wrap it around the back of his shoulders and pull him closer. “Yeah. Very okay.”
CHAPTER 17
Remy
I’m in a bed. With Chris. And he’s sleeping.
I’m inChris’bed, and we didn’t have sex. I love how good that feels.
He’s on his side, facing me, a slow, even stream of breath hitting his pillow. I got back from Kansas Sunday night and could barely get to sleep, knowing I’d get to see him in less than twenty-four hours. Coming home from work to find the old, cracked pavers removed from my front yard and replaced by a meticulously pea-gravel-lined path of his mosaic stones made me want to sprint across town the second I saw it. How is this my life?
Hair mussed, a flake of baked rice stuck to the bottom of his lower lip for some reason, he couldn’t look more endearing at the moment. Reaching out, I brush it off his face, and he stirs.
Blinking, his blown pupils locate me. He jerks his head up.
“Huh? Remy?” he grunts groggily. Gaze darting around the room as though he’s checking for threats, he exhales and drops his head back to his pillow with a smile. “What time is it?”
“Like…four in the morning.”
“Oh, my God,” he groans, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I’ve never slept that long.”
