“It’s only fair that I sleep inyourbed this time, right?”
He did not go there.
Geez, I have an emotional meltdown and hide out in his bedroom one time, and he never lets it go.
“It’s fine. I don’t even make it all the way to my bed half the time.”
“True, you don’t.”
“I fall asleep on the floor, on the couch…”
“In my bed …”
“Yeahhhh, sorry about that.” I laugh.Liar.
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m not?” I try to sound playful, but this isn’t a game anymore.
“I’m sorry you were hurting, and I’m sorry I couldn’t salt and burn the problem. But I’m not sorry about anything else,” he asserts. “Are you?”
I’m glad he’s doing the talking tonight, because I’m panting like I just performed a ten-minute drum solo.
“Nope,” I admit.
“I didn’t think so.”
“I put you in a bad situation, though,” I confess.
“It didn’t feel bad to me.”
“Well,youdidn’t do anything wrong.”
“You didn’t either, Lu.” His voice softens. “Tell me what Nathan did to you.Please.”
“I will. Soon. But it’s over, and I don’t want to think about him tonight.”
“I should’ve done something, but I couldn’t leave you.” He sounds frustrated with himself. How do I tell him that horrible night became one of my favorite memories?
“Hey, it was nothing physical, and you did exactly what I needed. You always do.”
“It was the best sleep of my life,” he says softly.
“Me too.” My free hand presses to the ache in my chest. I need him to stop saying things like that.
He breathes a heavy sigh and mumbles, “This smell is making my brain short-circuit,” but it’s more like he’s talking to himself.
“What smell? Did Jace do something to my room?”
My thoughts flash to all the pranks he could pull with no one home and an open invitation to enter. Jude laughs in a breathy rumble, and I can tell he’s lying down.
He answers me slowly.Deliberately.
“No. Your pillow smells like peaches and cookies. You’re not here, but you’re everywhere. It’s killing me.”
My heart races.What theactual heckis he doing to me?
“Tell me about work,” I urge. I need to redirect this freight train before it goes off the rails.
