“Noon? Everyone must be downstairs, waiting for us!”
“Most likely.”
“Baylor! How long have you been awake?”
“Couple of hours.” He shrugs.
“You should’ve woken me up!”
I go to get off the bed, but he grabs my arms and pulls me back.
“What’s the hurry?”
“I have to get dressed. They’re going to know we’re in here together.”
“They probably already do. You weren’t exactly quiet once I brought you up here.”
Heat rises in my cheeks as the memories of just a few hours ago flood my mind. I don’t remember the noises I made, but I wasn’t exactly trying to stifle them anymore. “Oh God.”
He props himself on his forearm. “Yeah, that’s what you kept screaming.”
I fist the pillow at my side and swing it at his face.
He twists his lips and narrows his eyes at me. “You wanna play this game with me?”
I giggle and fluff my pillow like I’m cocking a gun.
He launches himself forward on top of me before I can even get a second swing in and pins me to the mattress. A jolt of excitement flashes through me, which is quickly replaced with a surrendering cry as his hands poke my sides.
His eyes light up when he discovers how ticklish I am, and his hands attack as I wiggle beneath him helplessly. When I manage to get an arm free, I tickle his underarms.
Oh-ho. The tables have turned.
He stiffens and falls to the side, bringing me with him. We lie there for a moment, staring at each other, catching our breath as our laughter fades into silence. He has his hands collapsed around my wrists for good measure, but I kind of enjoy the strong hold he has on me.
I search his features, my mind suddenly racing with a million different questions.
He raises a dark brow. “Oh no. You’ve got that look.”
“What look?” I frown.
“The overthinking one. I suppose it’s well overdue.” He finds my hand in the covers between us.
I glance down as we interlock fingers. “Why were you so horrible to me if you felt this way?”
He sighs like he’s been dreading answering the unavoidable question. “Pushing you away from me was just an easier way of dealing with my feelings for you when I knew I couldn’t act on them. And I think not being able to act on them made me angrier, and I usually aimed that at you.” He reaches up and runs his thumb along my lower lip. “I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean, you couldn’t act on it? Why?”
“It’s not really my place to say, but I don’t really see any way around it at this point.”
I wait for him to answer.
“Henry.”
My brows shoot up. “Oh, come on. I know he tells you guys all the time to leave me alone, but I didn’t think you were actually scared of him. It’s not like he’d really do anything.”
He shakes his head. “You’re really that unaware?”
