“You’ll go crazy if you do that. Try to relax if you can.”
Relax? With the weather? With him? With my butt still throbbing and me needing to pee every ten minutes because of said nerves? Sure. I was as cool as a cucumber. “What if the window breaks or we run out of wood, or freeze to death?”
He exhaled an impatient breath. “We won’t run out of wood, I promise. Not for at least a week.” He ran a gloved hand over his jawline and studied the wall behind me, staring at it so hard that I turned around to see what in the world had caught his attention.
Just a window.
“If a window breaks, we’ll try to barricade it.” He narrowed his eyes as though he was thinking out loud. “If that doesn’t work, we can either take wood to the sorority house or load everything in my truck and head to my sister’s. I’d prefer not to drive anywhere if we can help it. Honestly, Becca, try not to worry. I paid extra for sturdy windows.”
“Okay.”
Those solutions all made sense, and I placed my yarn on the table beside me. It had grown dark outside, and the room was too dim with only the flames from the fireplace and a lone candle. Plus the adrenaline from the day had worn off hours ago. It could’ve been the confidence in Harrison’s voice that soothed my anxiety, but an overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit me. My eyelids drew heavy, and my muscles ached. “Maybe I’ll try to sleep.”
“Good idea. I might lie down, too. There isn’t much else to do without light, and we should preserve batteries. I don’t have a large supply of those.”
Does he mean with me? In the bed? Together? Next to me? On top of me? Right now?
I blushed at the million questions—and images of us—in my mind and moved from my position on the couch away from the large mattress. “I’m going to use the restroom really quick.”
He didn’t look up from staring at his lap. “If you want to use the restroom in my bedroom, you can. It’s right in the back.”
“Sure, thanks, yeah.”
His bedroom.Jeez. Is this his attempt at privacy?I’d used the hall bathroom all afternoon, so why offer the nicer one? Maybe he had to fart or something and needed me out of the room. I snorted, content with why he may have offered the one in his room, and turned on the flashlight.
The beam barely made a path in his room, and the stark difference without the fire left my teeth chattering. It was freezing. Cold and shivering head to toe, I quickly used the toilet and brushed my teeth. Frost lined the lone window in his bedroom, and I fast-walked back to the living room with the fire.
Diving headfirst onto the mattress, I faced the fire. “D-damn it’s c-cold outside of t-this room.”
“Give it a minute, you’ll warm up.” He moved away from the warm room.
I tried giving it a minute, but it did no good. I was so cold that my toes, fingers, and jaw hurt. A small whine left my throat, and I bundled up even more.Think warm thoughts. The beach. Summer. Harrison’s body…
“Becca.” His voice came closer than a minute ago.
A part of me wondered if I’d accidentally said his name aloud. “Yes?”
“Are you warming up at all?”
“N-no.” I tried sounding normal, but I couldn’t. “C-could we add more w-wood?”
“Yes, I’ll do that.” He shuffled around and, kneeling less than a foot from me, added logs to the fire. After positioning them with the poker, he moved from the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. His back touched my legs, and he looked down at me, his brows furrowed and his lips drawn in a firm line. “You have me worried.”
“I’m f-fine, just c-cold.”
He ran a hand over his face and nodded a couple of times. “I’m joining you.”
“Hmm?”
He crawled over me and slid under the covers, moving closer and closer until one arm slid under my head and the other came over my middle. He pulled me against his chest in one smooth motion, leaving my brain without time to digest his actions.
“Slurred speech, shivering, and drowsiness are all signs of hypothermia.” His warm breath fanned over my ear. “You’ll warm up faster with my body heat. I’m not chancing it.”
I didn’t speak, afraid I would say something stupid. I attempted to settle my overactive senses.Hypothermia? Me?That only happened to people in movies or TV shows. My breathing picked up, and I had difficulty settling.
Harrison moved his hand, rubbing it up and down my arm. “Focus on the movement, Becca. Try and match your breathing to my pace.”
Up and down, over and over. He continued the pattern for a couple of minutes until my lungs filled with air. Relief spread through my body, relaxing me, and I snuggled deeper into his embrace. He was so damn warm and comforting, and he didn’t seem to mind when I wiggled against him. If anything, he tightened his grip.
