“Wouldn’t bother me,” I say, settling deeper into the blankets. I’m worn out from the game and the bullshit with Marcus afterward.
I shift, and my leg brushes against Landon’s. He freezes, then his body slumps. “Sorry,” he whispers.
“No worries,” I whisper back, not even bothering to open my eyes.
It’s no time at all before I’m dead asleep.
Chapter 12
Parker
Iwake slowly, with lilac, plum, and lavender dancing behind my closed eyes. I’m warm all over. Cozy, even. That’s why it takes me a second to realize that the reason I’m warm and cozy is not because I’m being cuddled to death by Darcy, but becauseI’mcuddling someone else.
Landon.
I’m cuddling Landon.
His solid body is pressed against mine, or rather, I’m pressed against him—my arm draped over his waist and my leg hooked over his. Heat floods my cheeks. I don’t think he’s awake yet.
I’m not big on allowing people to get close to me. That opens up the potential for heartache, and I’d be stupid to miss the way Landon and Ben look at each other. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. Not anymore. I’m cautious, and I guard my heart well, especially when it comes to people like Ben and Landon.
Landon, with his sweet, shy smiles and his earnest brown eyes. Ben, with his smirks and confidence that never borders on cockiness.
They’re dangerous.
To my heart especially.
The strings of fate are a real bitch, though, and every single day, I feel them tugging more, connecting us, tying us together. It’s not good at all. Not even a little. But I also can’t move. I mean, I physically can, but I don’twantto. It’s dangerous, but I don’t want to stop. At least not yet.
Not while everything feels like this. Not while lavender is cocooning my body and lilac is dripping from my fingertips. Not while Landon is arched like he’s trying to curl deeper into my embrace. I don’t want to open my eyes because I know once I do, the spell will be broken.
I’ll have to sit up and laugh everything off. Make a joke. The eye roll and snarky retort of, “Looks like I’m the one who ended up spooning someone,” is already heavy on my tongue, but I shove it down. At least for now.
Surely it’s okay to let myself bask in this for just a while. I can keep my heart out of it. I have to. It would be stupid otherwise. Gold threads its way into my purple. Hope and light weaving through my mental masterpiece.
My eyes pop open. No. Hope isn’t allowed here. Not like that.
Landon’s hair comes into focus, and I slowly untangle myself from him so I don’t wake him up.
I sit up, rubbing at my eyes, scrubbing the colors of content and hope out of my vision.
Ben stretches on the other side of Landon, his hair sticking up in a million different directions. My heart gives a dull thud. This really should be our last sleepover.
Landon shifts, and for a second, I allow myself to imagine it’s because the heat of my body is gone. That I’ve wrapped him in my purple, and now that it’s gone, he feels the loss like I do.
I shake those thoughts away. Ben’s eyes flutter open, and he gives me a lazy grin. It’s sleepy, much like his hazel eyes, and I can’t handle the way it makes my stomach twist with want. I’ve wanted before, and it got me nothing but pain. I won’t do that again.
Landon shifts, sitting straight up. “Oh shit.” His cheeks turn bright red. “I didn’t spoon anyone, right?”
I can’t help but laugh, but before I can answer, Ben does. “No, Park was spooning you, though.”
Asshole.
“Oh,” Landon says, glancing at me.
Ben’s staring at Landon, eyes roaming his face. Not that I can blame him. That adorable, shy blush is so fucking disarming that it’s unreal. Heat flashes in Ben’s gaze, his eyes zeroing in on Landon’s mouth.
It’s the strangest thing. Jealousy twists my stomach, but my heart also lurches. I… I think I really want to see them kiss. Want to see Landon come undone under Ben’s skilled mouth the way I did.
