I shook my head. “Dad hates cats. And so, apparently, does my landlord.”
Xander wrinkled his nose. “I don’t trust people who don’t like cats.”
“To be clear, I like them,” I said. “Just never had one of my own. I followed you in the first place for the cute kitten pictures.”
Xander laughed, reaching out to brush his fingers against my pants. Even through the fabric, even though he hadn’t really made contact, his touch made my stomach clench.
“I know I can trust you,” he said. “You’re so gentle with Orion. Tells you a lot about a person, how they handle a kitten.”
“Glad I passed the test,” I said.
“You’d already passed a hundred times over,” Xander said, looking up at me again. “Are you going?”
“Well… I…”
I didn’twantto go, but if I didn’t, Dawn would definitely know in the morning that I hadn’t come back all night. On the other hand, Xander would think I didn’t want to stay.
And I did. I wanted to stay more than I could remember wanting anything.
“You don’t have to,” Xander asked. “Just wondered if that was why you were still dressed.”
“Oh,” I said, looking down at myself. “No, I just… umm. It’s just…”
How could I explain to him? EvenIwasn’t sure what my problem was.
Okay, that was a lie. I understood what it was.
I just didn’t know how to tell Xander about it. Not yet, anyway.
“It’s cool,” Xander said. “Whatever you want is okay. No pressure.”
“I’d like to stay,” I said before I could chicken out. “If, umm. If that’s okay with you?”
Xander broke into a warm, open smile, the kind I was starting to get addicted to. “I’d love that.”
* * *
Zara: so, how was it?
I wokebleary and blinking at my phone to a message that nearly gave me a heart attack. It took me a second to realize Zara was talking about the ice cream tasting, and not… spending the night with Xander.
I’d woken up alone and fished my phone out of my pants, which were pooled on the floor next to the bed along with my sweater from when I’d decided in the middle of the night to take them off, to check the time.
Five a.m.
Zara’s message had been sent seven hours ago.
I never left a message unanswered for that long.
Xander’s side of the bed was still warm, so he couldn’t have been gone long.
Milo: awesome, I’ll give you details later
Milo: how’s things?
I rolled out of the bed and padded to the bathroom, leaving my phone nestled in rumpled bedclothes. At home, I always made the bed first thing in the morning, and I might’ve done it for Xander, too, except that I liked the way it looked. I liked the reminder that we’d shared it.
I hadn’t shared a bed in so long I’d forgotten what it felt like.
