"I'm a little..."
Everything that had happened in the twenty-four hours since he first offered me this contract flashed through my head: what turned out to be my last shift at the Tourmaline, dance class, the hotel room kiss, Rich Harrison, getting fired, getting evicted, Tony's fight, the guy chasing after me—the one who turned out to have a gun.
My heart sped up with a weird mix of panic and fear. The only way I could think to describe it was, "...overwhelmed. I'm a little overwhelmed by everything that went down tonight. Do you mind if...?"
I swallowed, chickening out at the last moment.
But the hawk turned around and looked down at me from his perch on the stairs.
"Do I mind if what,Sunny?"
CHAPTER23
Sunny
I didn't knowwhat was more surprising. That I actually got up the nerve to ask Cole "Triple Ice" Benton if I could sleep—just sleep—with him.
Or that he said yes.
And by said yes, I mean commanded me, "Wear pajamas."
Then walked up to his room and left the door open.
He was under the covers, all tucked in, by the time I joined him dressed in my usual baggy, red Benton Girls t-shirt, sleep shorts, and carrying my silk pillow, even though my relaxed wave extensions were a good week past needing to be removed.
The room was dim, but the entire exterior wall was covered in glass, so Vegas gave me plenty of light to work with as I swapped out the cotton pillow on the right side of the bed and crept under the covers as quietly as I could.
But not quietly enough.
"GoNoTo, sleep sequence," Cole commanded some unseen device as soon as I laid my head down on my silk pillow.
There came a whirring sound, and the windows tinted over, covering up the neon-lit night sky of Vegas as completely as blackout curtains would have.
"Good night, Cole," I whispered.
"Good night, Sunny." His voice somehow came out even darker than the room's pitch-black.
I swallowed. And it occurred to me to say, "Thank you. I know I'm invading your space, and I saw thatno sleeping overclause in the contract. So, um, thank you for making an exception for me."
No answer, and he stayed silent for so long that I gave up on getting a response. But I had the feeling he hadn't fallen asleep on his side of the bed, even as I faded to black on mine...
...only to wake up on his side of the bed, my entire body plastered against his.
Apparently, The House liked to cuddle.
I found myself wrapped—actually, more like completely enveloped—inside Cole's arms.
His upper leg rested at an angle over both of mine, securing them against his lower one. Both of his arms encircled me. One wrapped around my waist from below, while the other was positioned diagonally across my back, with a hand cradling my head against his chest.I could feel the ridge of his now-stubbled chin resting against the side of my forehead. And another ridge—much longer and harder—was pressing into my core.
What on earth?He must have pulled me into his arms at some point between last night and this morning. Perhaps unconsciously. His steady breathinglet me know that, unlike when I thanked him, he was truly asleep.
Either way, I couldn't easily extract myself from his strangely complete lock-in of a hold. And the hard length pressing into my core was starting to make my body tingle.
I should probably wake him up.
This wasn't real. None of it was real.
But the way he was holding me felt like a hug—a hug I didn't realize I needed until I woke up in Cole's arms.
