I took a trembling breath and forced myself to turn away from him. He was making me lose my mind.
“Look, I’m tired. Good night,” I announced, turning over to one side with my heart racing.
“Yeah, it’s better if you go to sleep.”
James turned away from me and balled himself up on his side, making me feel small against his giant back.
“Who knows what it would be like . . .”
My hand flew to my mouth. In the dark, a thought escaped me that James seemed to perfectly guess even though I hadn’t fully articulated it.
“I don’t think it’s the right time to find out. Trust me.”
>> <<
When I opened my eyes wide, the sun was already peeking through the blinds. James was still there with me. I smelled his scent and sensed it from how his warm body molded into mine, but most of all by how his arm held me tight against his broad chest. There was no malice between us, just that uncommon feeling that had enveloped me when we’d woken up together at Will’s house.
I opened an eye slowly, almost afraid.
In front of me stood two tiny figures, and my heart almost skipped a beat.
I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles to get a better look at what I’d just seen.
“Oh my god, are there kids here?” I shouted.
“What the fuck are you saying?” James reprimanded me raspily and sleepily, pushing the curve of his perfect nose deeper into my throat. It wasn’t a dream like I’d thought initially, nor was it a hallucination. Two small and disturbing figures were in the middle of the room.
“Who’s that?” shouted the first girl.
I looked at the other one, who stood still at her side, and noticed that they were identical twins. A blond braid fell on their right shoulder while thick bangs covered their eyebrows.
“Who are you? Answer!” the other exclaimed, pointing a toy gun at me. I sat up with a rat’s nest for hair and noticeably dizzy.
“I’m, um, June?”
The girls began running around screaming, with no regard for my headache.
“June loves James! June loves James!”
30
June
I sat still, staring at the girls running around in circles in the room, in a desperate attempt to understand what was going on.I’ll kick them out, I thought, throwing the sheet to the bottom of the bed. James didn’t seem to like that. I saw him fumble around for the blanket on the floor.
“Are you crazy?” he groaned irritably.
He pulled me toward him, making me lie back down, and then hid behind me. Suddenly I felt softer pressed against his solid physique. James’s skin was so boiling hot that a wave of heat washed over me. My back was squeezed against his chest, my hips were pressed against his, his legs fit into mine, and my backside . . . oh my god.
“Are you really hiding behind me?” I whispered, hoping that the girls wouldn’t hear us.
My words got stuck in my throat as soon as his hand landed on my hip. James stopped me with a firm grip before I could move. Only when I felt his fingers dig into my skin did I realize that the T-shirt was completely lifted up. The fiery spurt that reached my cheeks was almost unbearable.
I felt my body temperature skyrocket.
“Easy, princess. Give me . . . gimme another minute.”
I heard him breathe drowsily and huskily against my neck, sending a million chills down my spine.
