Judging by the amused glint in his eyes, he’d been awake awhile already. “Told you you needed sleep too.”
I rolled us over onto our sides, tucking him in against me. “Should I just accept you being right all the time now or…?”
He giggled, the sound so sweet it made me ache. “It might save us a lot of conversations in future.”
My breath caught.In future.Did that mean…?
Don’t get ahead of yourself, Evan. You’ll scare him off.
My wolf grumbled. If he had his way, we’d bite Reid now to make him ours and deal with the consequences later.
And that right there was why he wasn’t allowed out toplay. Not until I knew that mating was something Reid wanted.
I didn’t bother questioning whether it was something I wanted. My instincts told me Reid was the one for me. My wolf agreed. Call me stupid, call me crazy, but sometimes you just knew. And I did. I think I’d known for a while.
Reid was my mate. We didn’t need a bond to confirm that. I felt as certain of that as I did my place in this clan.
I just needed to win Reid over. To soothe his fears and show him he could be happy here. A midafternoon nap was a start, but I had more tricks up my sleeve. For that, we’d need to leave this cosy bed and go downstairs.
Honestly, it was only knowing this would be good for Reid that had me letting him go. In other circumstances, I’d be content cuddling up with him forever. I made a vow then that one day, once all this bullshit with the Clarksons was dealt with, Reid and I would spend an entire weekend in bed. Just cuddling, if that was all he wanted.
Nothing could make me happier.
“Do we have to get up?” Reid pouted. “Your bed is so comfy.”
Goddamn, he was cute. Knowing my willpower was near zero where he was concerned, I jumped up fast and tugged on my T-shirt. “My bed? Or my chest? Because that’s where you actually slept.”
He ducked his head shyly, but not fast enough for me to miss his smile. “I didn’t hear you complaining.”
I leant forwards to touch his chin, forcing him to look at me. “Sweetheart, you won’t ever hear me complaining about you touching me. Consider my chest your personal pillow. Or any other part of my body that happens to take your fancy, for that matter.”
Interest flared on his face as his gaze dipped south. “MaybeI need a sleep aid. Something to suck on to help me rest.”
“Jesus.” I reached into my joggers to grab my suddenly aching cock, trapping my erection under my waistband. “Okay, so we’ll definitely be doing that later.”
His pout grew deeper. “Why not now?”
“Because my parents are downstairs, and from the smells coming from the kitchen, dinner’s ready.”
Reid bolted upright, leaping out of bed and combing his fingers through his hair. “Shit, we shouldn’t have slept so long. Your parents must think I’m so lazy. What kind of guest takes a nap on their first day?”
I snagged him around his waist and tugged him flush against me. “The kind who’s exhausted, and who’s been through a traumatic event recently.”
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his forehead against my chest. “You must hate that I assume the worst.”
“Not at all. It makes sense given you don’t have anything to compare it against. But that’s the whole point of this experiment—to give you a different experience so your brain doesn’t jump straight to the worst-case scenario.”
He grinned up at me wryly. “Not sure having something to compare to will stop that. I do love a bit of catastrophising. Keeps you young.”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry, there’s always something to worry about round here. For now, how about we go down and see what Ma’s prepared?”
“Okay.” Reid stepped back, exhaling slowly. “How do I look?”
Like mine.
That wasn’t what he was asking. Clearing my throat, I swept my gaze over him. His hair was a little askew, and hisclothes looked like they’d been slept in, but none of that mattered. Not when the shadows under his eyes were lighter and his cheeks were flushed with colour.
“Rested,” I said eventually.
