His voice was heavy with tiredness, and although I wasn’t sure of the time, I knew it was late. Or early morning, more like. “Where were you?” I asked him as I lay there in the darkness, shivering.
“I went home,” he answered gruffly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m really cold,” I told him honestly.
“I covered you when I came in, but you were sound asleep. I’ll go see if Jett has a blanket.” I heard him move again, andmy arm shot out to grab him. Surprisingly, I caught him the first time.
“No, it’s okay, it’s because I’m tired.”
“Then go to sleep.” I heard the light humor, and I smiled in the dark.
“I’m sorry you lost.” The room was quiet as he settled back down on the bed.
“Me too.”
“They smashed your new TV.” I turned onto my side to face him in the dark. “And your room looks like three bombs went off in it.”
I heard his long sigh. “Yeah, the twins told me. I’m sorry about your apartment.”
“Campus police said it’s mostly cosmetic, apart from the TV.”
“Red, the TV is replaceable; I’m just glad you weren’t at home.” I felt him shift on the bed again. “You went out?”
Flopping over to my back, I let out a loud groan. “Not you too! I already heard this from the terrible twosomeandAva.”
“Okay, we can talk in the morning,” he told me tiredly. “I need to sleep, Red.”
I shivered again, and I tried to stay silent as I could hear how tired he was. Didn’t his parents live over three hours away, and he went home? The guys had called him back,andhe had played today; how was he even still awake?
The more I thought about how cold I was, the colder I got. I was only wearing shorts I borrowed from Quinn, with Ash’s practice jersey. I needed more clothes.
Turning, I curled into a ball, hoping that by making myself smaller, I would warm up faster. I heard a heavy sigh and then a grunt, and Ash got off the bed. Where was he going now?
The covers lifted, and then he was sliding into bed beside me, and I could already feel that he was hot, with the heatradiating enticingly off him. Without a word, he pulled me into him and then deftly rolled me onto my side, a strong arm curled around my waist, my back pulled into his chest.
“Um . . .”
“Red, be quiet,” he mumbled as he tucked me closer into his body.
“Okay.” Stretching out, I felt warmer already. “Thank you.”
He huffed out a breath, and I felt his arm tighten as his chin rested lightly on my shoulder. I was almost asleep when I jerked awake to his quiet question.
“You hook up with Denzel?”
“He walked me home,” I answered honestly.
“Why?”
“So I wasn’t alone . . .”
The strong, immovable band that was his arm flexed around me. “Thought it was no hookups in the apartment?” Even as tired as he had to be, he sounded irritated.
He had no right to judge me after what I’d learned this afternoon. “You get hand relief from the team doctor?” I snarked back and instantly regretted it. I didn’t want him to know it niggled at me.
His chest rumbled with a low laugh, and I couldn’t deny that it caused my toes to curl in delight. “You always act out when you’re jealous?” Ash asked me. His lips were against my ear, his breath causing my insides to jump up in anticipation.
“I wasn’t!” I tried to turn my head fully, but I felt how close his lips were to mine. His fingers moved over my rib cage, and I moved into his touch, greedy for the feel of his fingers tightening over the shirt I was wearing. “What are you doing?” I whispered in the dark.
