Because I loved torture, I pulled her legs over my lap, tightened my hold and scooted down to the recliner seat on the couch. I pulled the lever and leaned us back.
She sank into me. An arm draped over my torso. Her legs parallel with mine and her head still resting on my chest. I snaked my arms around her body. She hummed again as she cozied in, wiggling around to get comfortable.
“Jack?”
I said nothing, just waited.
“I was hungry. Thank you.”
Those words sent a blend of feelings storming into my chest. Anger she’d ever known stress to such a degree. Relief my plan worked. And debilitating longing for so much more.
I reached up and tenderly ran my fingertips through her hair. Down her arm. Over her back. Anywhere she would let me while still remaining appropriate. Any rigidity left in her body dissolved as my palms rubbed tension away. We stayed like that for a good long while. Me massaging, her melting.
She was…falling back asleep?
I stilled, listening to her breath. It had deepened. I hadn’t planned on sleeping here, but I wasn’t going to be the one to make her move. I arched my back, slowly bringing the recliner down a few more inches, until it was completely flat.
I reached, grabbed my phone off the end table. Tapped on my alarm. I adjusted my arms, tugging her a little higher onto my chest so that her forehead was right under my chin.
Then I closed my eyes.
A gentle vibration woke me. I pulled my eyes open. Miranda was cuddled next to me. Cocooned between the arm of the couch and myself. She had her knees drawn up, a perfectlittle ball I had formed my body around. My big arm and one leg caged her in.
I reached over and tapped my alarm off. Never hated an early morning as much as I did right then. I lingered as long as I could, but when my third snooze alarm went off, I knew I had to get going.
I swiped her hair back. “Miranda?”
Tried again.
Her froggy morning voice was adorable. “Yeah.”
“We need to get you into bed.”
“What time is it?”
“Four-thirty.”
“Crap.” Miranda abruptly sat up, her ponytail flopping to the side and her face reddened with pressure scars. She stood, nearly stumbling into the coffee table. I grabbed her elbow to stabilize her.
“Careful.”
She pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Sorry I fell asleep last night.”
“Don’t say sorry.”
She made her way around the couch and to the steps, hurrying—out of embarrassment I thought. On the third up from the bottom, she tripped, catching herself on the railing.
“You’re going to break your neck.” I caught up in a few quick steps, deciding to spare her the trouble of walking. Scooping her into my arms was as natural as coming home.
She gave me a drowsy swat. “Jack, I don’t need help.”
“Well, too bad.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t argue with me. Her arms slipped around my neck and she leaned in as I climbed the stairs. I pushed open her door and walked her to the side of the bed, wishing the walk was much longer. When I stooped to place her on the mattress, she squeezed my neck, causing me tofalter a step. “Thank you, Jack.” Her voice wobbled as she whispered in my ear. “For—for everything.”
I didn’t respond as she lifted the covers and climbed in.
Before I closed the door, I looked back. Two blonde heads snuggled close together. Little lumps under the covers. They had no place to call their own. No one watching out for them. Their only safety was each other.
