I laughed at that and ushered her forward. I followed behind, feeling like her bodyguard, as she scurried her way into the hotel.
After using the restroom, Sav joined us on the barstools in the hotel’s bar. I had a glass of water waiting for her, and she fought off a yawn while thanking me.
“Time for bed?” I asked.
“I think so,” she admitted, blinking a couple times against sleep. “It wasn’t a bad drive, but now that I’m done, I’m wiped.”
Those words made me feel guilty all over again. All I wanted to do was give her a massage to thank her for coming to get us… And that got my mind on sleeping arrangements. I chastised myself for not asking Duke about this earlier. I selfishly wanted her to stay in my room again…
I held my breath as I made eye contact with Duke. He shot me a wicked grin.
“Well, Sis… I’m feelin like I should eat a Snickers and Mountain Dew every day before Tuesday to prepare. You got the keys? I think I have to run out for some.”
That sounded like a pretty lame excuse to me, but her shoulders slumped besideme.
“Should I wait here for you then? I really don’t wanna get back in the car,” she said.
“Sure, but maybe you should stay in Griff’s room again? I might be a while. Might find some Tennessee hotties,” he wagged his eyebrows.
She bit her lip and looked up at me in question, as if asking permission.
“Let’s get goin,” I smiled and held her hand while she hopped off the barstool. I gave Duke a quick knuckle punch behind her back to thank him.
_____
In the room, I felt my mind racing a hundred miles per hour as my anxiety started rising again. As much as I wanted her to stay with me, I wanted it to be comfortable. I craved just confidently knowing that we would sleep next to each other… But no way would I automatically jump on the bed. I wasn’t that kind of guy. She had to be the one to give me permission…
I watched her flop on the bed and kick her shoes off, and I awkwardly eyed the couch.
She massaged her feet and let her head fall back. “Gah. I need more comfortable shoes,” she complained to the ceiling.
I put my hands in my gray sweatpant pockets and slowly sat on the couch. “Yeah?” I chuckled.
Her eyes snapped to mine, and she cocked her head to the side. “What are you doing? Don’t be silly,” she said, patting the space beside her. “C’mere.”
She obviously didn’t think this situation was as touchy as I did, and her words put me at ease. She had a way of doing that– of depleting the awkwardness with her welcoming and inclusive attitude. I remembered her doing the same thing back when we were kids. She never ever made Duke and I feel like we were intruding on her and Nick’s time.
I grabbed the clicker and ripped off my shirt before hitting the lights and stalking toward the window side of the bed.
The only issue this time was that it was a king size bed, so I felt weird about moving close to her when we had so much space. I made a mental note about king size beds–I never ever wanted one. There was practically an island of space between us. We could probably go the entire night without touching each other and that was the opposite of what I wanted.
She was the one who addressed it.
“You think you can put me in that position again? I think it’s your physical therapy hands that do the trick,” she laughed.
That made me smile up at the ceiling before moving to her side of the bed. I loved being able to do things for her, and I gently, but firmly helped her.
I was about to scootch away, but I froze when she touched my arm.
“Stay here?” she asked. I breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing I wanted more than to hold her.
We laid in silence together then, me being the big spoon, while a sitcom quietly played in the background.
After a beat of silence, she cleared her throat. “It feels weird to share the bed with someone else,” she admitted.
I could understand that. They’d shared a bed together for years…but her words also kinda worried me.
“Is it a bad weird?”
