I take another breath, still trying to calm my racing heart. I glance around us, checking to make sure one of those creatures isn’t nearby. When I look back at Slater, his face is grim. “Are you all right?”
I don’t even know how to answer that, so I don’t. He glances at the dorm building behind me and then back at me. I know what he’s going to say before he even says it, so I say it for him. “This isn’t working.”
His eyes meet mine. “I’m going to sit in front of your door next. I’ll be able to stop you before you get outside.”
I shiver in the cold, and weariness overtakes me. “You can’t do that, Slater. Then you won’t get any rest.” Because he obviously can’t stay in his wolf form in the hallway.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Slater, you can’t—” He cuts me off.
“Tess, Babe, I am barely hanging on.” He runs a hand over his head in frustration. His glowing eyes meet mine. “Don’t ask me not to watch over you or not be here. The idea of you coming outside, trapped in a dream—”
“A nightmare,” I correct.
“A nightmare,” he says. “Makes me sick and so incredibly angry.” I wrap my arms around myself, trying to get warm. I’m so cold and tired. He curses, and my gaze shoots to his. “You don’t even have shoes on. Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
But I don’t move. “I can’t, Slater.” My voice is barely a whisper. “I’m so scared,” I admit. I watch the change come over him. Gone is the gentle Slater,mySlater. In his place is the enforcer Slater. His eyes take on a hard glint.
“Let’s go. My truck is this way. I'd pick you up, but...” he lets the words hang. He can’t because he can't touch me.
“What about my stuff?”
He looks down at me. “If you want, I’ll help you pack a bag; but it’s the middle of the night.”
“And I’ll wake up Stephanie.”
He nods. “You can borrow anything of mine you need. We just have to get through the night, and then we’ll come over first thing and get your stuff. Let me grab the truck; I’ll be right back.” He leaves me and sprints for his truck. He’s back moments later, with the door open for me. I eye the clock when we get in. It’s just after one. I lean my head back against the seat, feeling absolutely defeated. He doesn’t say anything on the way, and I'm grateful. When we get to the house, we quickly make our way inside. I follow him through the quiet house to his room. Only once the door is closed, does he turn on the lamp next to his desk. Then he gets to work. He turns on the shower and returns a moment later. “Shower will be warm in a minute.” I sit on the bed, tooexhausted to move. He appears in front of me again. “I’ve got clothes for you for when you get out.”
I make myself walk into the bathroom and strip for the shower. It feels really good and helps to start warming up my freezing body. I stay in there a long time, being careful not to get my hair wet so I don’t have to sleep with wet hair. Reluctantly, I finally turn it off and dry off. Then I dress in the clothes Slater gave me. I don’t let myself think about the black boxers I pull on, nor the sweats and t-shirt and socks. I pull on the hoodie he left for me and open the door. I notice right away he’s not in the room, but as soon as I step into the bedroom, he opens the bedroom door and comes in. “Zane heard us come in and was checking in.” His gaze sweeps over me, but he doesn’t say anything about my clothes—hisclothes. “Take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“You don’t have to sleep on the floor; we can—”
He cuts me off. “I can’t. I don’t want to accidentally touch you.”
His words make me deflate, and I just sort of feel empty inside. “You should take the bed. This is a big week for you.”
“Tessa, take the bed. I’m not sleeping on it.” He grabs a pillow and blanket from the bed and drops down onto the floor next to the bed. I feel terrible, but I know arguing is futile. So, I climb into the bed. “I’ll hear you during the night if you wake up and get out of bed. I won’t let you leave the room,” he says in a voice that’s void of any emotion.
“Okay.” I stare up at the ceiling, wondering if I’ll be able to sleep. But the combination of being warm and being in Slater’s bed with him right beside me on the floor makes me fall asleep almost instantly.
Something wakes me up. My eyes shoot open, and I realize it’s morning. I hear a soft sound and turn my gaze to the spot beside me where Slater slept. He’s no longer sleeping. No, he’sdoing pushups. A lot of them. I watch him pump out pushup after pushup. When he finally stops, I continue watching him. “You know, if I knew this was the sight I’d wake up to every morning, I would have slept here a long time ago.”
Those gray eyes find mine, and I shiver at the heat there. “If I’d known what you looked like dressed in my clothes and sleeping in my bed,” he pauses and gives me a look and doesn’t finish his thought. I think it’s probably for the best that he doesn’t.
Chapter39
Tessa
The week passes in a blur, and suddenly, it’s the weekend. I ended up sleeping at the House of Stars every night. Before Slater left town on Wednesday, he put an alarm on his door that will wake Quint and Zane if I open the door. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened once. Monday night and Tuesday night, I worked security; so, Slater stayed nearby. Wednesday was the first night for the alarm since Slater left that morning. Thursday night was the same. And now, we’re in North Carolina for Slater’s game. We left this morning at five am, so we could get to his game on time.
“Man, I’m glad we left when we did,” Evie says from her seat up front next to Zane. “Traffic has been crazy.”
“Yeah,” Zane says in response.
“But we’re here now,” Quint adds.
I take in the traffic and all the cars trying to get into the game. “I’m glad soccer’s starting to grow in popularity.”
