Was there any harm in wanting to kiss him? Did it make me a bad person that, even though he’d ghosted me, I wanted to kiss him again?
Before I could embarrass myself, Harrison patted my side and rolled the opposite direction. “I’ll be right back, don’t worry. Stay bundled up, and we can sleep close. Do you need anything?”
His voice was both soft and kind, gentle and sweet like one a lover used. Shivers escaped my body at the combination of his tone and the loss of his body heat.
“No, thank you,” I mumbled into my pillow.
He’d said we could sleep close. What did he mean, exactly? Confused as hell, my stomach swooped like a teenager’s—like the time my freshman crush winked at me in class. Turned out I’d misread him, and he was winking at the girl behind me, but in those glorious few minutes, my stomach was a hot-mess express.
Sleeping next to the handsome Harrison Cooper, though… what an interesting turn of events. The girls at the house would freak out if they knew. Hell, two years ago I would’ve jumped up and down with glee at the thought of his hard, toned body curled up around mine. It had been years since I’d legit slept with someone. Sleeping—not the sex—was such a vulnerable thing, and I preferred having a relationship with someone before sharing a bed for an entire night. So much happened during the night. Sleep talking, snoring, drooling, or even sleep stripping—something I had done since I was a child. Knowing he might witness all of that was nerve-racking.
I paused my thoughts. Why did I care what he thought? I didn’t. That’s right.
Ugh. I buried my face into the blanket and let out a frustrated groan. The kiss was the problem. I had kissed a lot of frogs in my lifetime, and Harrison might’ve had frog behavior two years ago, but the way he’d used his mouth sure as hell hadn’t been frog-like.
And a frog wouldn’t save me and help me get warm.
“Should I be worried about the sound you just made?” he asked.
I tensed, not realizing he’d returned to the room. “You’re a big guy. Why don’t you make any noise when you walk?” I rolled over, facing him as he stood at the edge of the kitchen. “You should have loud footsteps.”
“I’m light on my feet.” He shrugged and blew out a candle on the end table. “How’s your phone battery doing? I found one of those portable charges with a little juice left but mine is still at eighty percent.”
I felt around the floor, and finding my device, I shrugged. “I’m good still. I changed it to battery save mode when the power first went out.”
“Efficient.” He blew out another candle, leaving the fireplace as the only light in the room. “We need to stay hydrated, so I brought a couple bottles of water. Try and have one before we fall asleep.”
“You’re right. Thanks.” I moved onto my butt to sit crisscross and then took the bottle from him and opened the top. He joined me on the mattress and leaned against the edge of the couch. Here we were, staring at each other in silence, drinking water like we were pals.
He gave me a long look, his gaze dropping from my face and down to my body all bundled up in the blankets. “You’re different than how I would’ve imagined you.”
“Uh, okay?”Here we go again. You’re too different, Becca.I tried thinking of a good comeback but came up empty. Instead, my tone defensive, I replied. “You’re different, too.”
He smiled, the white of his teeth visible in the dim lighting. “I think you misunderstood my intention there. It was a compliment.”
“A weird compliment, then.” I faced away from him, hiding my reaction. It shouldn’t have surprised me he’d go down this route,again. Same words, same letdown.Story of my freaking life.
“Look.” He moved closer to me on the mattress. Reaching out, he placed a massive hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. “We haven’t talked about it, but I think we should.”
“Talked about what?” My heart raced at the direction of this conversation.
Does he mean the date? The time he never called like he’d promised? The way I’d overanalyzed the date, wondering what I’d done wrong?
“Two years ago,” he clarified.
And there it was.
Play it cool.
“Remind me, what about two years ago?So muchhas happened since then.” I hated how my voice sounded as I masked my embarrassment. This was really happening, and all the responses I’d planned those first few weeks after our date disappeared. All the rants I’d practiced in my head, imagining how coy and fierce I’d be if I saw him. All of it was gone.
“Becca.” His tone lacked amusement. “We went on a date.”
“Did we? Hmm, easy to forget. I go on dates all the time, like so many. Where did we go? Was I nice to you?” I rambled, my face turning hotter by the second.
“Yes, you were nice to me. We both had a great time.” He scooted closer to me. “I was an asshole, okay? I know that.”
I blinked, hoping he couldn’t hear how fast my heart beat against my ribs. It was like mini bolts of thunder. “Be more specific, please.”
